We are thrilled that our Play to Empower FUNdraiser raised more than $29,660!!
It was a blast to have so many people from the Aging UP community together. This year’s Play to Empower was extra special because it included former and current board members and mentors as well as longtime and new supporters and volunteers. It also featured our special guests of honor Mentee Star and Mentor Kristin. They have both been in our program for 5 years — since our beginning — and brought a fun and meaningful element as they spoke about their mentoring relationship.
Play to Empower is a unique fundraiser that allows guests to feel what it’s like to be at a Group meetUP. Our goal is that, just like our teens, guests enjoy a supportive, stigma-free environment where they engage in a fun activity and enjoy tasty food. We’re proud to say this was accomplished!
Topgolf provided the perfect venue to recreate the meetUP vibe. The event was a success before it began thanks to our sponsors IFG (the iFish Group), a Sacramento-based IT consulting firm, Tidy Revival, a decluttering and home organizing company, and Capitol Advisors, LLP, California political consultants in education policy and finance.
The event included happy hour with drinks and hors d’oeuvres, more than 20 raffle baskets, a photo station and a putting challenge. Many guests entered our wine pull thanks to support from 90 Plus Wine Club and took home a surprise bottle of wine.
Guests were also able to purchase Adventures (exciting activities or needed items) that our youth requested. The youth’s requests were displayed on flags that attendees could grab and then donate to make that adventure happen. An anonymous donor matched $5,000 of Adventure funds raised — thank you, Adventure Makers!
Our friend Freddie Silveria of FSA Auctions was the event emcee with our Co-founder April. After brief remarks, guests enjoyed a delicious fajita dinner and 2 hours of Topgolf play and contests. The Closest to the Pin contest winner won 2 tickets to see Jay Leno with dinner at Red Lantern at Thunder Valley Casino Resort. The new Lucky Draw contest was a hit. Guests purchased a card from one playing deck. The suspense built as Freddie pulled a card from a new deck and invited 4 potential winners to the stage. One held the matching card and won lower-level Sacramento Kings tickets and a Mikuni gift card!
We are so grateful to everyone who came out to make this event fun and successful. We extended gratitude to our energetic volunteer team, who made the event possible.
