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Did you hear the roaring? Did you feel the earth move? Did you hear the angels singing?
Were you at the HELPDAVE event at Mum's on Thursday February 24th?
Nearly $20,000.00 in donations toward helping Dave and we are still counting!
The donations are still being tallied; thank you so much! I did not think it fair to hold out on a description of the event that just took place at Mum's in Long Beach. I will do my best, I'm sure I will forget something! You will notice that there are no negatives mentioned here! It was all good!
We arrived at the restaurant and the HELPDAVE crew was already in motion unloading the motor home. We had to haul everything up a couple flights of stairs to the rooftop. Many many trips up and down carrying goods, supplies, and tables. (Yes! Those of you that attended, we carried all of that up the back stairs!) I did not hear one complaint! We were so happy to be at such a beautiful restaurant with such a wonderful reputation for it's hospitality, it just rubbed off on all of us and we rather joyously toted that barge.
Setting up was challenging but very exciting. The young man managing our party for Mum's that evening was incredible. I am sure we frightened him terribly! We just took over his restaurant! We pestered him all evening and he came through every time.
With nervous smiles and an extended hand our first guests were greeted, the moment had arrived. All of the Seal Beach & Millikan High School young people that were there to help were in place, they watched over the Silent Auction, answered questions, and really made it possible for us to attend to our guests. Dinner was set out buffet style and as people arrived we invited them to have some supper and preview the Silent Auction items.
I don't know what point it was in the evening that I realized that the room was full, but it was amazing. Our guests were crowding the door, we had to unclog registration, and the 50/50 table was bombarded, the raffle tickets were being sold at a rapid-fire clip. At one end of the room there were a hundred people, over by the Silent Auction a hundred more, and at least a hundred more mingling about with smiles and good wishes in such abundance it was overwhelming. It was like the loaves; everything just kept multiplying. I did a personal survey; faces everywhere were animated, laughing and enjoying. It was like magic. Every single aspect of the evening was like a dream for me. The Live Auction was great fun! The Silent Auction had such a nice variety of items that I truly believe our guests were excited to bid on them. Wasn't the Raffle every few minutes a hit! The 50/50 was beyond my wildest dreams!
If you were unable to attend then you missed watching a mere mortal fly! A close friend of my family bought three 50/50 tickets. He had to go home before the announcement of our winner and handed me his tickets saying they were indeed the winners and I was to give the money to David. He won! When the announcement was made I nearly jumped and touched the moon! Now this ladies and gentlemen was more than I could take! How do you express that kind of joy? Every dime we made went to help Dave. God Bless you all!
Our team made sure that each guest was thanked and made to feel welcome. I know that each person received a personal thanks or felt a hand either shake theirs or squeeze a shoulder. I really think that our guests knew that they were a part of something very special; it seemed like they all glowed. It was really amazing.
Many attendees were friends and family but who were all of the others? At some point in our campaign we realized that we were counting on the generosity of strangers. We sent out about 200 pieces of mail that said: Attention all strangers, the Hassenpflug family would like to invite you to help Dave, and a lot of you came! Thank you very much!
Many stories will be told of the evening, we will remember it with a fond grin always. A group of people set out to help David and did a remarkable job. I am certain that none of us pictured what actually took place. We dreamed and prayed and worked very hard. In the last 72 hours I have had a chance to speak to and see a couple of our team members, I hear a tone of wonder in their voices when they describe events of the evening. Something wonderful happened and you were a part of it. If you are reading this sentence, you are a part of it. Thank you for helping Dave.
We will send you a note when the next event is in the planning stages, we think maybe a band jam or a bingo night. Please come see us again, we had such fun, let's do it again! Until then, check back with us at the web site. We look forward to seeing you!
My best regards,
Marybeth - David's other sister
Over 100 items have been donated for auction and raffle and will be given away that night! (see list below)
Vendors that have donated will have tickets waiting for them at the door
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