Silent Auction

There are so many people to thank for their help in our silent auction this past Saturday evening.  As I mentioned in a previous blog, Jess and I did not do a lot leading up to the event.  In fact, we were actually in Haiti until about 2 weeks before the auction took place so the work fell onto a team of people who did an absolutely beautiful job.  After thinking about what happened this past Saturday, I cannot even think of anything that would have made the night any better.  Here are some highlights of the event, and thanks again for making this a success.

• The decorations!  I can’t begin to explain to you what the event looked like.  Somehow, it was both elegant and had a Haitian feel to it, and we cannot thank Amber Blackwood enough for this.
• Todd Fordham, our guest speaker, did an amazing job.  I just sent him a text to tell him the only bad thing is that he did so good that he has to come back every year as our guest speaker.
• Phil Atter did a wonderful job as the MC for the evening.  It was thrown on him at the last minute, and it couldn’t have been any better than it was.
• Gus Bradley, the coach of the Jaguars, made an appearance.  In the midst of a very busy time for he and his family, he came out to support our children, and that meant a lot.
• The team of people who made this event happen.  I am not going to try to name all of them for fear that I would leave someone out, but it was absolutely amazing to see a team of people come together as one to make something like this happen.
• We raised between $19,000-$20,000 after expenses!  This was just incredible.
• Our One Spark exhibit was a huge success!  Thanks to the Whalen family and Yeoman family for donating their time and talents to make this happen.  

Our first big fundraiser was an amazing success.  We look forward to many more just like it, and it is so great to know that there are this many people behind us who can do a much better job than we could ever imagine.  When I walked in on Saturday night, I was floored, and when I left I felt more encouraged about this ministry than ever. GOD is truly putting a great team behind All Things New, and it will be such a wonderful journey to see how He makes everything happen.