Hello Darlings!
It seems like it has been forever since the last time I posted an entry onto the Shimer Blog. And it has, to be fair. Life as a working Fourth Year means that I have a jam-packed schedule with very little spare time here and there. However, I am not complaining! I love every minute of my life. The most exciting and important thing that I have been up to (besides my Thesis, of course) is the fundraiser for SitStayRead: Best in Show!
Best in Show is SitStayRead’s annual fundraiser where over two hundred guests come together in order to raise funds for our youth literacy programs. This year, Best in Show was held at the Hard Rock Hotel in Downtown Chicago where guests came with their dogs (yes, you read that right!) to watch the live broadcast of Westminster Kennel Club’s Best in Show, take pictures at our awesome Stand Up Background, bid at our Auction, and participate in a crazy Raffle. This was an event that all the staff at SitStayRead had been working on for the past few months and yesterday was its final debut!
Yesterday I arrived at our SitStayRead headquarters at 12:00 pm, ready to start loading Mallory’s car full of all the goodie bags for humans and dogs, the red carpet, and other miscellaneous things. Mallory and I ended up getting lost in the maze of buildings and construction downtown as we tried to find the Chicago Tribune to pick up a banner and then proceeded to unload her car at the hotel. I then aided in setting up all the Goodie Bags, the Check-In station, the Stand Up Background Photo Booth thing, the Wine Bottles, and every other little thing possible. All of us on staff were running around like crazy, perfecting each and every detail. After set-up, all of us went ahead and got ready (where all of us looked magnificent, obviously).
Sooner rather than later,
all of our guests began to arrive. Glorious outfits of suits and dresses
drowned our human guests while their furry friends were adorned in matching
bowties and necklaces. As a staff member of SitStayRead, I attended the event
as a working participant- mainly at the Check-In with the other Program Leader,
Mallory. That meant that we were the first and last people that most of the
guests saw that evening. It was non-stop, ALL NIGHT! Mallory
and I barely had
time to catch our breath as people were registering, purchasing, and what not
for the entire evening. We definitely did not get home until after midnight… but
it was awesome! SitStayRead had done it, we had gone above and beyond what we
had ever intended to do- we raised far more money than the previous year and
were even told that it was the best fundraiser that SitStayRead has ever had!
What was really great about helping to put together the Best in Show fundraiser was that I was once again reminded how Shimer College has been vital in more than just my every day life. As a student at Shimer, I have evolved into the very person that our motto stands for-“Not to be served but to serve”. I was able to take all the necessary skills that I have developed from my time here and put them into an organization, a cause that I truly support. And this is only a fraction of what I will continue to accomplish.
-L
P.S: We also premiered our SitStayRead video! You can hear my voice at the end with our Program's cheer...and maybe if you're good, you can spot me working with the kids.
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