Record breaking Crystal Ball raises over $262,000 for The Jefferson Foundation
December 6, 2007, Lakewood, CO ~
It was a night of celebration and acknowledgments. Most importantly, The Jefferson Foundation's
22nd Annual Crystal Ball "Hats Off to You!" raised over $262,000 - in one of the biggest signs of support for Jeffco Public Schools
and this 24 year old non-profit. 611 guests attended the event at the Grand Hyatt - another record for this highly-anticipated gala.
The evening showcased music and art programs in JeffcoSchools, starting with ArvadaHigh School's String Quartet, under the direction of music teacher
Jolayne Guzait, and
Jane Pelletier's Normandy Troubadour choir performing a Veteran's Day salute as the guests arrived.
Norma Anderson was presented a special Lifetime Service Award for a political career that spanned almost 20 years. "Norma tried to work with everyone for the good of Colorado," said Jefferson Foundation president,
Stan Dempsey, Jr. "Her legacy includes the School Finance Act, and Third Grade Literacy Act."
The 2007 Distinguished Service Award was presented to
Jeffco Open Space, a 55,000 acre resource of parks and recreation areas. Open Space partnered with JeffcoPublic Schools and Jeffco's cities to allocate $1.8 million for artificial turf on six high schools' athletic fields, allowing year round usage of the fields, with a substantial water savings. Accepting the honor were CountyCommissioners,
Kevin McCasky and
Kathy Hartman, and many past and present Open Space representatives were in attendance, including
John Litz, Wayne Forman and Ken Morfit.
The 2007 Distinguished Jeffco Alumni Award acknowledged the musical accomplishments and philanthropy of three Columbine graduates,
Rob Squires, Brian Nevin and
Todd Park Mohr, who are members of Big Head Todd and the Monsters.Mohr performed acoustic versions of his songs to a standing ovation from an appreciative crowd. The evening auctioneer,
Gully Stanford, started the live auction with two donated guitars bearing the signatures of Squires, Nevin and Mohr.
Continuing on the music theme, a special music ask for the JeffersonFoundation's "Music for All" fund raised $10,000, and that amount was matched dollar for dollar by an anonymous donor, bringing the total to $20,000. The fund provides Jeffco music teachers, on very limited school budgets, with a means of purchasing music supplies and repairing musical instruments.
Emcee Ernie Bjorkman helped draw the winner of the Foundation Board of Director's Raffle.
Joyce Sutton from Russell Elementary was the lucky winner of a trip to the wine country, while
Kim Willson purchased the winning chance for a Purvis Jewelers' diamond necklace.
Additional photos are available at:
http://www.blacktie-colorado.com/premiere_events/details.cfm?id=1813
The Jefferson Foundation is the oldest Colorado non-profit K-12 public education foundation. It engages community support and gathers resources to fund programs and experiences for the students of Jeffco Public Schools.
For more information, contact: Anton Delgado: 303-982-2210
www.jeffersonfoundation.org