Foundation Gala Raises $58,750 for Youth and Families

I've been to quite a few fundraising auctions, and there's always one item that gets more attention than any other. Usually, it's a collection of rare wines or exotic vacations, a suite for 20 at a Pistons or Tigers game.

At Saturday night's Heart and Soul gala, it was backpacks.

The Foundation, which has given around half a million dollars to 47 local organizations since 1995, put together three dozen unique live auction packages for the event. Auctioneer Dan Stall talked up everything from a day of shopping and pampering and dinner for two at 14 local restaurants, to hunting and fishing trips and theater tickets.

Then Foundation board president Robin Waldman took the stage with Bonita James, principal of , a school that serves young people with disabilities. Waldman announced that an anonymous donor had stepped forward to match donations to the Foundation's backpack program, up to $7,500.

The program provides backpacks filled with enough food to feed a child for a weekend. Because some kids – some 800 kids – at all grade levels in go home on Friday and may not get a nutritious meal again until they come back to school on Monday.

James explained the backpacks would be prepared and delivered to four schools by Visions Unlimited students. "We have some food on our shelves," she said, "but we have no money."

Stall barely opened the bidding before the first $100 was pledged, and from there, his staff called out the numbers from around the room: $200, $400, $500, all doubled by the match. Within minutes, the total topped out at $7,600, giving the backpack program $15,100.

A similar run brought $4,500 to the Foundation's endowment fund, which will create a permanent source of funding for non-profits in Farmington and Farmington Hills. Those funds will be matched dollar-for-dollar by , which also hosted the event in their spacious showroom.

All tolled, the sold-out event raised $58,750. "This means so much to our community," Waldman said.