Bunco

Last night we had our final bunco fundraiser for this year.  It was a very last-minute thrown-together event and we did not expect a good turnout.  We ended up giving tickets away, just hoping for people to show up.  Somehow, though, we ended up having a BUNCH of raffle items that came together at the very end.  So we hoped that by just getting people in the door, we would be able to raise some money in raffle tickets alone.


Jump back to May. Barbara knew that I was going to have a hard time raising money because all my "contacts" are poor college students.  So Barbara, being the amazing woman that she was, purchased a pair of earrings from Premier Designs and gave them to me to use as a raffle amongst my classmates.  When she gave them to me, I went into her office, gave her a hug, and thanked her.  This was the last time I ever saw her.  Well, come September, I just didn't think that a raffle with these earrings would go over well in my class, so I decided to use them as a raffle item at our Bunco event.  So we labeled the box, "Premier Designs Hoop Earrings, Donated By Barbara Hayes".  We knew this would be a hot item since Barbara passed in late June.

33 people ended up showing up last night.  Wow. Way more than I could've ever imagined.  We had beautiful ribbons donated by Joyce that people wore throughout the night.  We had set up a memorial table for Barbara with pictures. It was a small, intimate gathering, and it was probably my favorite Bunco night that we've had.  So before we started playing, my mom found a rogue ticket on the ground.  Not knowing who it belonged to, she picked it up, asked a few people, and then held on to it.  During one point in the night, she left it at the table and moved on without her ticket.  We finished up the game, and handed out prizes for most wins, most buncos, most losses, and most triples.  I gave a short speech, we had a moment of silence for Barbara, and then moved on to our big raffle.

Barbara's Memorial Table

We got through about half of the items and then came to the earrings donated by Barbara.  Now, this box was pretty full of tickets.... I mixed them all up, and grabbed one.  My mom read off the number and silence.  All of a sudden, Brian raises the ticket in the air.  Everyone giggles that a guy has won the earrings, but then he says that it was the rogue ticket.  Can you say goosebumps!?!? Of all the tickets in that bucket, I picked the ONE ticket that got away from its owner.  And it just so happened that that ONE ticket was put in the container for Barbara's earrings!? Everyone in the room was moved.

But little did we know, there was a lot more to that story.  Apparently, during the final hand of Bunco (where everyone would stay sitting for the raffle), Brian found the ticket that my mom had originally found, and then left on that table.  He asked the people around him if they were missing a ticket, and when no one replied, he held on to that ticket to see if it would win.  Of all things, it was Barbara's earrings. Afterwards, he gave the earrings to my mom, who was absolutely floored at what had happened. 

Then, this morning, my mom found out that the ticket belonged to an employee's daughter who had been there (who is actually my second step-cousin).  When the number was called, she had all the numbers surrounding it, except for that one.  So she was a little disappointed that her ticket won, but she didn't have it.  So my mom sees him in the parking lot this morning, runs out, and says, "I think these earrings belong to your daughter."

Can I just take a moment to point out that we sold 54 arm-spans of tickets last night, each of which had 28 tickets.  Which means that there were 1,512 tickets divided up amongst the 30 or so raffle items that we had.  There was only ONE ticket that was found on the floor.  No one claimed it in the beginning, or in the end of the Bunco game.  It ended up in the hands of my mom, and then Brian.  And that one ticket just happened to be the number I pulled (the box probably had 50 or so tickets in it).  And the prize just happened to be the earrings donated by Barbara.  Call me crazy, but we had a God moment last night at that Bunco game.  I don't believe in ghosts, and I don't believe Barbara's spirit was there.  But I DO believe God was present last night, and in a BIG way.  This happened for a reason.  It was just WAY too big to be a coincidence. 

So to everyone who showed up last night and supported us, thank you, from the bottom of my heart.  I cannot explain just how much last night meant to our team.  We love you all so much for being so generous and supportive.  Together, we can help end breast cancer and make a better tomorrow for everyone.  Because everyone deserves a lifetime.

20somethings Saving Tatas

 Hi friends! I know you all are SICK of me asking you for donations.  Trust me, I’m tired of asking! So it’s time to do a FUNdraiser ;) But I need help!! What I’m thinking about doing is having a super fun day at the park and invite EVERYONE! I want to call it 20somethings Saving Tatas. So basically what it would be is a bunch of people in their 20’s hanging out at the park having fun playing volleyball, flag football, Frisbee, board games, or things along those lines. We would charge a $5 entry fee (that’s the donation!) and everyone would just have fun hanging out with their friends while making NEW friends! But in order to make this super fun, we’d need a TON of people to come join us! So I would need YOU to invite YOUR friends and have them invite their friends! Invite coworkers, family, friends, classmates, friends from church, etc.  If everyone who came promised to bring one friend with them, our donations would double! But I’d also need help actually organizing this event as well. I would need people to volunteer to help me set everything up, clean everything up, and just be extra eyes/hands/ears during the event.  There’s a lot of stuff I’d have to figure out before being able to start putting this together (like whether or not we’d need security since it’d be open to the public, how much renting a space at the park would be, etc). So if anyone has any great ideas or knows someone who knows someone who could help me out with that, that’d be awesome!! Venues!! Where would be the best place to hold an event like this? Woodward park? Another park? A school? A church? Someone’s big backyard? Ideas??? :) I was also thinking about ending the night with a movie, but that would mean we’d need a portable screen and a projector… Anyone have access to any of that? If you have any ideas or input about this or would like to volunteer to help out, please let me know!! :) If at all possible, I’d like to get this done before school starts so we’re not all stressing out about it. Whatchya think??