McKinley/church partnership

By Pat Taylor

Reportero SDUN

On Feb. 6, the Mardi Gras Gala at Mission Hills United Church of Christ, raised approximately $20,000 for the McKinley Elementary School Foundation.

Each year members of the church are invited to suggest an organization that might benefit from the funds raised by this annual event. Students from McKinley school visited the church’s Mission and Outreach Commission to share with members why they wanted to be the selected recipient. They said they had benefited from the art and music programs at their school and wanted them to continue.

The entire school celebrated when McKinley was chosen to be the Gala recipient.

The church halls and meeting rooms were transformed with a Mardi Gras theme the night of the event. The church’s youth group offered appetizers to Gala attendees, which included District 3 Councilmember Todd Gloria.

The evening’s first event was the silent auction, which seemed to offer something for everyone as many people were hovering close to their most coveted items minutes before the closing. This was followed by a sit-down dinner, during which time the silent auction items were delivered.

Finally, there was a live auction hosted by Meg Conrard. Sailing lessons, monthly brownies, original art, pottery by Kouta Shimazaki and a bed-and-breakfast vacation in Castine, Maine, were some of the items auctioned off.

At the end of the evening, the amount raised was announced. Two tables of McKinley guests said they could hardly believe it!

Chairs of the event were Laura Borschel and Barb Snodgrass. Mission Hills United Church of Christ is at 4070 Jackdaw St. in Mission Hills. McKinley Elementary School is at 3045 Felton St. in North Park.