The 5th Annual Teddy Bear Tea, "Bears Around the World," took flight flawlessly.
The Teddy Bear Tea was held on Thursday, April 28 2011 in the LBCC commons and was hosted by the LBCC Foundation. They had seating for 160 people and it's estimated that 140 people attended. The gathering consisted of tasty treats from around the world, various speakers, raffles and auctions, and hot air ballooning teddy bears. The Foundation reached their goal of raising $3000.
People of all ages filled the Commons, all dressed in their best tea attire. There were lovely spring dresses and hats everywhere you looked. The Foundation did a great job of making sure everything appealed to both children and adults. Many kids eyes widened when they saw the colorful cake pops on the food table in the midst of Italian pizza, Asian vegetable rolls, French creme puffs, Hawaiian chicken salad sandwiches, and teddy bear shaped shortbread cookies. LBCC Catering kept all the trays full and warm and did a wonderful job.
There were squeals of joy when a ticket number was read off for one of the kids-only raffle baskets and it belonged to one lucky little girl. The most obvious kid friendly aspect, though, was all off the teddy bears! Teddy bears in baskets on the table, teddy bears hanging from the ceiling in hot air balloons, teddy bears in chairs, on stage, in t-shirts! And one giant teddy bear on the live auction table that everyone had their eye on...
"The staff of admissions and registration put together a basket for the live auction that had a huge teddy bear in it and it was valued at $505," Paulette Myers, the event's coordinator said. "It ended up being purchased for $460. It was the biggest competition of the night."
Attendees were all surprised and giddy when they won a basket. "I am very excited I won a basket! I didn't think I would," said 10 year old Sabrina Grato. It was Sabrina and her mother, Lise Grato's, first time attending the tea. "It was a very fun event with great food and fabulous selection of baskets from different businesses," said Lise Grato. Sabrina Grato agreed with her mom, "I want to come back again!"
The reason the Foundation puts on the Teddy Bear Tea every year is to try and raise as much money as they can for the students of LBCC. The Foundation provides funding to various things associated with LBCC, from sports to clubs to academic needs. With the economy in its' current state, these funds becoming increasingly important. LBCC President, Greg Hamann was a speaker at the event and spoke of the increasing need for more funds. "This past year we served about 25,000 students and that's about a 30% increase over the last three years," Hamann explained. "At the same time, we've seen about a 25% decrease in funding."
An LBCC mathematics major, Coquille Rex, also spoke at the tea, and described her journey during her attendance at LBCC. She explained how she has a family and just wasn't sure she'd be able to go back to school, but she found a way to. The third speaker, LBCC Foundation President Martha Wells, used Coquille as a model of so many other students who feel the same way, and are able to use LBCC to overcome the idea that they can't go back to college. "Our ability to fund scholarships for students becomes increasingly the responsibility of people like you, for whom we are eternally grateful," Wells said to the tea attendees.
The LBCC Foundation supports many different students and programs throughout campus, and they work very hard to do so. Here's to hoping next year's Tea is just as successful as this year.
AT A GLANCE:
Money raised: Approximately $3000
Number of attendees: 140
Number of adult baskets raffled: 12
Number of kids baskets raffled: 7
Number of silent auction baskets sold: 30
Number of live auction baskets sold: 6
Speakers: Greg Hamann (LBCC President), Martha Wells (LBCC Foundations President), Coquille Rex (LBCC student)
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