Attendees took a local trip to Hawaii at the Hyatt Regency Valencia for the 52nd annual Boys & Girls Club benefit auction on Saturday: Tiki Hideaway Auction.
In the style of a lūʻau, attendees socialized, enjoyed music from a live band and ate, all while a silent auction took place to raise funds for the organization.
Among the 121 silent auction items were an autographed Shaquille O’Neal jersey, VIP passes at the Magic Castle in Hollywood, tickets to the Los Angeles Chargers versus Los Angeles Rams pre-season game and a one-night stay in the Hyatt.
Live auction items included a VIP package to Six Flags Magic Mountain, Dodgers tickets and a tour of Jay Leno’s Big Dog Garage.
“All the proceeds benefit the programs at the Boys & Girls Club Santa Clarita where we have over 2,000 kids who are members; we serve an additional 3,500 through our outreach programs, and every day we have about 600 kids who check into the club,” Boys & Girls Club Chief Executive Officer Matt Nelson said. “It’s a second home for them. We support their academic success, help develop leaders, teach healthy lifestyles and just be a positive place for kids.”
Nelson expressed his excitement in not only raising money for the club, but also in having a live band, Island Jams, a new element to the annual auction.
With the help of Pamela and Dennis Verner, who coordinated this year’s event, attendees could show up in style, despite how casual Hawaiian shirts can be.
“Every year we do a different theme. Last year’s theme was aliens and it was the 51st auction so we did ‘Auction 51.’ So last year, somebody said, ‘Why don’t we do something where we just wear Hawaiian shirts. We don’t want to dress up.’ And that sparked the whole tiki theme,” Dennis said.
Pamela, who compromised with Dennis on last year’s theme, took over the reins this year.
“Other than the fact that I’m obsessed with tiki anyway, last year he got to do his thing with the aliens, so this year I’m like, ‘It’s my year,’” Pamela said. “We’re all about the kids and having fun, so having themes where we can just be casual and have a great time, the tiki fits right into that.”
According to Dennis and Pamela, it’s fun to think of a theme, but the greater cause outweighs everything else.
“This is our signature fundraiser — this fundraiser alone helps us bring in almost about a third of our annual budget,” Pamela said. “While we’re all dressed up and having a great time, the reason why we’re all here is to support the Boys & Girls Club to raise money so we can continue to provide programs for the community.”
