Dear Families:
Let the bidding begin! Welcome to auction week at the St. Anna Cabana. As this post hits your inbox, the silent auction is opening. It will stay open all week until closing during the live portion of the auction on Saturday evening. Log-on to the auction website and browse through the fabulous items available for purchase. Be sure to use Auto-bid so you don’t have to manually increase your bid. Or, if it is an item you truly don’t want to lose, you can choose the guarantee bid option and the item is immediately yours.
Our auction chairs, Kathleen Gallagher and Becky Pelletier, along with Development Director, Monica Flora have plans to give us a “sneak peek” at some of the amazing items that have been donated. Watch for a display at pick-up tomorrow. Without the usual set-up for families to peruse in-person, this will help give an idea of what’s available.
This year as we are unable to have our usual Family Night on Friday evening, we don’t want our students to be left out. Friday, May 7th has been declared as “Cabana Friday” with a special contest, free dress, (students can wear beach, Cuban, festive, summer attire) a chance for students to see some of the kid-friendly items and a special end-of-day treat.
I know I don’t have to tell you how important the auction is this year! Without the Friday Evening Family Night, and the reduced numbers that can attend in-person, participation by everyone is needed. We depend on $195,000 from our fundraising each year to go toward next year’s operating budget. This is in addition to any money raised through Fund It. It is a lofty goal but one that we have reached in year’s past. This year we made a commitment to keep the 2021-22 tuition increase to 3%. If we can’t raise the funds at the auction, we will need to look at making some cuts. Something we don’t even want to consider!
Finally, this week is Teacher Appreciation Week! Our week will culminate with the teacher support portion of Fund It at Saturday’s auction. These teachers have gone above and beyond this school year in helping to keep students safe, healthy and moving from remote to learning in-person. To say it has been stressful and exhausting is an understatement. Thank you to our wonderful parent community for all of the ways you are showing them how much they are appreciated. I have heard about plans from parents in multiple classrooms who are doing such special things for them. Even the smallest gesture of thanks goes a long way. They all know that they couldn’t have done the job without all of you working in partnership with them this year. We have a truly special community at St. Anne.
See you either via live stream or in-person at “A Night in Havana at the St. Anna Cabana”. Let’s make this an auction to remember!
Have a great week!
