$12,000 RAISED FOR HOMELESS FAMILIES AT CELEBRITY WAITER DINNER
EVENT FOR YWCA SALEM OUTREACH SHELTER
The 9th annual Salem Celebrity Waiter Dinner held at the Salem Conference Center on May 8, 2010 raised over $12,000 for the YWCA Salem Outreach Shelter (SOS). All money made is going directly to the shelter to support the 15 homeless families that call SOS their home. One shocking statistic guests learned is that 47% of the homeless population is 6 years old or younger.
A BIG THANK YOU to this year’s Local “Celebrity Waiters”: Lisa Franceschi-Campbell, Bry Taylor, Mary Chance, Kayla Strauch, Melissa Seifer-Briggs, Kristin Newland, Tami Levin, Bob Cegon, Rick Maurmann, Julie Cooke, Michelle Kimball, Cindy Fletcher, Bruce Womack, Fay DeMeyer, Amber Templeton, and Anita Padilla, the shelter director.
Just a few of the table themes this year were Pirates, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Grease, James Bond, and African Jungle. The trophy will be shared by winners Kristin Newland and Melissa Seifer-Briggs.
A BIG Thank You to Jerry Miller from Allstate for his great emcee services and to Kevin Venables of NW Mobile DJ for providing great music!
Approximately 150 guests attended. Guests bid on silent auction items including an autographed Trail Blazers basketball, artwork, and more. They played blackjack for prizes, got massages courtesy of Heather Seals of Indigo Wellness, and bought raffle tickets for a ruby ring and some great baskets!
In an interesting twist, a former family from the shelter was in attendance as a guest. One of the table captains asked “Krissie” and her husband “Rick” if they wanted to attend. Krissie answered, “Yes, of course. We’d love to. We lived there once and would like to support them.” So she and her husband came, had fun, and donated. Amazing!