Some 120 people attended the annual Grand Harbor Community Outreach Program Gala Dinner and Auction.
VERO BEACH — Some 120 Grand Harbor residents and club members attended the sold-out 6th annual Grand Harbor Community Outreach Program Gala Dinner and Auction on Feb. 7 to generate additional funding to support homeless families, veterans in need, and at-risk youth.
The gala and auction, which took place at the Grand Harbor Club, raised more than $65,000 through ticket sales, silent, live, and angel auctions making it the most successful GHCOP Auction event ever.
The silent auction features art work exclusively from Grand Harbor resident artists. “The whole idea of the auction started 6 years ago with a donation of 2 prints which sold immediately,” said Pat Murphy, event chair, “and has escalated to donations of art from very talented artists, among them, Susan O’Shea and Chris Shaw, who have won awards from the Art Museum. This year we were able to showcase the art in the newly redecorated Joe Lee Grill which was a nice atmosphere for the bidders.”
The live auction was ratcheted up several notches by local attorney John Moore III, a highly experienced auctioneer. The top auction items included a Riverside Theatre show and season tickets, a vacation at a Vidanta Resort in Mexico, a private 5-course Italian dinner for 8 with wine, a week in a Presidential Suite in Park City, UT, a week in a luxury New York City apartment overlooking Central Park, and a week in a beautiful Biddeford, ME home with a private beach.
Adding to the night’s excitement was an angel auction. Rather than bidding for a single item, attendees could donate to groups the event targeted: homeless families, veterans in need, many of whom are disabled and living in poverty, and at-risk youth, who need academic enrichment or housing. Moore, in auction style, kept the donation “bidding” spirited.
“All in all the atmosphere of the evening was delightful and the group had a really good time,” said Murphy.
“Those for whom the night was still young gravitated to the club’s lobby and gathered around Jerry Reichert’s piano for a musical finale.”
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