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BEARCAT BENEFIT 2016: A MASQUERADE EVENING BEYOND COMPARE!

The San Mateo High School Foundation's 12th Bearcat Benefit, Bearcat Masquerade, held on October 29th at the breathtaking Bayview Dining Room at the College of San Mateo was a truly unforgettable Masquerade Evening Beyond Compare!

Nearly 200 Bearcat community members came together, donned in exquisite masks, elegant gowns and fun costumes to experience a masquerade celebration which included: 

Bravo Reception (where attendees were treated to delicious hors d’oeuvres, a fun signature cocktail named Bearcat Orange Fizz & complimentary drinks all night, VIP bags & mellifluous performances by the talented SMHS String Orchestra, Bella Sinfonia); Rare & Exotic Silent Auction items that ranged from exquisite handmade jewelry to a cocktail cruise; a Selfie station complete with fun props; A gourmet dinner buffet; An exciting Live Auction led by Bearcat parent & auctioneer Kerim Otus featuring both popular favorites like the Science Department Surf & Turf Dinner & new items such as a backstage tour of ABC7 News Studios with News Anchor Kristen Sze; Outstanding Performances by the cast of SMHS Musical Evita, and SMHS Advanced Dance students; and finally, dancing with fellow Bearcat friends!

Thanks to the RECORD-BREAKING success of this year's Benefit, which raised more than $225,000 through individual & business sponsorships as well as ticket sales, silent and live auction proceeds, MORE THAN ANY OTHER YEAR IN FOUNDATION HISTORY, the Foundation can continue to support important programs that directly benefit SMHS students and staff, from essential classroom supplies and critical technology improvements to professional development opportunities for teachers. More than $24,000 was collected for this year's Fund-A-Need, a second set of Chromebooks for checkout to those SMHS students who lack the technology resources at home to succeed academically.  

First and foremost, the Foundation is deeply indebted to this year's Benefit chair JENNIFER LOW for her tireless and meticulous efforts to make Bearcat Masquerade such a success! She led an outstanding team of volunteers with dedication and an inclusive, collaborative spirit and for that, we are so grateful!

It takes a village to raise funds for the GREATEST HIGH SCHOOL ON EARTH and the following individuals were critical to the success of this year's benefit:

PIERRO MARGALLO for all his continued help in designing the logo for the benefit year after year;

VICKY WONG for once again heading the corporate sponsorship team, bringing in 17 corporate sponsors, 3 of them at the platinum level this year;

AMY MCHUGH for heading an outstanding family & individualsponsorship team, who collectively secured more than 52 family and alumni sponsors this year;

VICKY WONG, MARK & CAROLYN CHANDLER, DIANE HONG, JUNKO TANAKA, JENNIFER LOW, CAROL HEE, SASWATI PAUL, SANDRA SUN & YVONNE SHIU, who, along with other members of the auction solicitation team brought in amazing items that ranged from a tour of ABC7 News Studios, a dinner with Celebrity Chef Martin Yan to Exquisite Jewelry from Veronica Rose;

NEW PARENT JILL GOLDRING for jumping into volunteering for SMHS by heading silent auction basket assembly and graciously allowing her home to be transformed into auction central for the past month, and her amazing team of parents who are too many to list!

JUNKO TANAKA for the hours and hours she spent inputting all the auction items and their descriptions into auction software, ensuring that the whole auction process was truly seamless!

BOB KAYNE, ANN RHEE, ISABELLE BUSHMAN, CHRISTINE SEMENZA & YVONNE SHIU, for all their help with publicity for the event;

ILING TANG & CHRISTINE ANDRIOLA & their wonderful team for transforming the Bayview Dining Room into a scene from a Masquerade Ball in New Orleans!;

MOMOE SASAKI & LISA BABA for organizing a breathtaking Bravo reception complete with a delicious signature cocktail and amazing VIP bags;

LENNY LOW, VICKY WONG, LISA BABA & GILBERT WAI for procuring all the drinks and beverages for the benefit;

JIM WUNDERLICH & VIKAS JHA for setting up our computers & printers and all their help with auction software;

THE ALWAYS AWESOME CHARLIE ROYCE for all his help with AV and sound for the presentations and performances;

DIANE HONG, JOSEPHINE JORGE & SO MANY MORE for capturing the beautiful moments of the benefit with their amazing photography;

SARA COWEY for all her help in finding a Bearcat mascot, STUDENT JONATHAN LI, for the evening;

DIANE & STANLEY HONG for all their help in getting programs and nametags ready for checkin;

JENNY LIN & EUNICE RIM for heading a stellar checkin team including JENNIFER HAYS, LISA BABA, MOMOE SASAKI, JIM WUNDERLICH, SASWATI PAUL, EUDORA TING & MARYANNE RIBI;

MARYANNE RIBI, for the hours she spent fine tuning the auction checkout process and for leading an amazing team which included Alumni parent JEAN TOM, Current Parents JIM WUNDERLICH, CATHERINE WRIGHT, CECILIA APOLINAR-HIRANO, JUNKO TANAKA, EUDORA TING, SASWATI PAUL, CHEMI LO, DIANE HONG & LARRY BROOKS who made the complicated and chaotic process of auction checkout a breeze;

Our dynamic auctioneers KERIM OTUS for making Live Auction exciting & successful, and MARK CHANDLER for heading the Fund a Need presentation;

CHEMI LO for heading the Live Auction & Fund A Need Spotters Team;

SMHS TEACHERS SHOSHANA KALINSKI & CASEY TEAGUE for coordinating a truly entertaining Costume & Mask Parade & Contest!;

DARRYL CHAN for ensuring that the green room for the performers was properly stocked with snacks;

MARIE DAMELO for supervising the performers;

TIL TRIBUZI, for enabling the SMHS String Orchestra to perform at Bravo;

BRAD FRIEDMAN, for enabling the cast of Evita to perform at the benefit, and DELIA REGADIO & RICK REYNOLDS for their support;

ROBYN TRIBUZI for enabling Advanced Dance to perform at the benefit;

STUDENT ABHAYA KRISHNAN-JHA for filming and producing both the Foundation as well as the SMHS Legacy Crew Tribute Videos shown at the benefit;

STUDENT HELPERS ETHAN LOW, ALYSSA CHO, TIFFANY TANG, ELIZABETH TANG, DANICA RIBI, LIAN TING, ABHAYA KRISHNAN-JHA, LAUREN YOUNG, KIKI LO, PRESTON LO, WILLIAM LIN, ARIEL BLEMUR, SARINA DEB & OLIVIA BABA for giving up their Saturday to help with all aspects of the benefit;

The Foundation extends a special thanks to PRINCIPAL YVONNE SHIU, ASSISTANT PRINCIPALS JESSE BOISE & ADAM GELB, DEAN PATTI GIAMONI, AND ALL TEACHERS AND STAFF, who not only attended the benefit in numbers, but also contributed generously to the silent and live auctions!

We would also like to thank all the FOUNDATION BOARD members this year who have worked tirelessly for the success of this benefit:
http://www.smhsf.org/board-of-directors.html

On a final note, we are deeply grateful to our SPONSORS AND DONORS for their generous support! If you have not had a chance to send in your fair share donation and would like to do so, simply visit www.smhsf.org and send in your donation today!

For those of you who were not able to join us at the benefit this year, please click on the link below to see the video that was shown at the benefit which describes the various programs & resources funded by the Foundation over the years in an entertaining manner!
https://youtu.be/na9DFB3cqpw

CLICK HERE TO SEE PICTURES FROM BEARCAT MASQUERADE https://www.facebook.com/media/set/…

FINALLY, PLEASE SAVE THE DATE FOR THE 13TH ANNUAL BEARCAT BENEFIT, BEARCATS IN BOLLYWOOD, ON SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28TH 2017! WE WISH YOU A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY SEASON AND A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!


Bearcat Benefit 2015:
Bearcat Benefit: The Magic of Mateo
 
Read all about it and see the pictures.
 
Bearcat Benefit 2014:
Bearcat Benefit: Bearcat Boulevards
 
Read all about it and see the pictures.
 
Bearcat Benefit 2013:
Bearcat Benefit: A Command Performance
 
Read all about it and see the pictures.
 
Bearcat Benefit 2012:
Bearcat Benefit: Vote for Bearcats 2012: A Resounding Success!
 
Read all about it and see the pictures.
 
Bearcat Benefit 2011:
Bearcat Benefit: VIVA MATEO! was a huge success!
 
Read all about it and see the pictures.
 
Bearcat Benefit 2010:
Bearcat Benefit: Building for the Future was a huge success!
 
Read all about it and see the pictures.
 
Bearcat Benefit 2009:
Magic of Mateo Back to Basics with the Bearcats was a huge success!
 
Read all about it and see the pictures.
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