WESTFIELD – The upstairs banquet hall at the Sons of Erin is no stranger to loud, jovial commotion, especially in March “when Irish eyes are smiling.”
Last night, the hall was abuzz again, albeit with a far more feminine lilt, as members of the Westfield Foundation for Education (WFE) hosted their first fundraising event, known to participants as “Pocketbook Bingo.”
Thanks to donations from local businesses such as Firtion-Adams Funeral Home, Park Square Realty, Entre Computer, PeoplesBank and Westfield Bank, the WFE was able to purchase 10 designer handbags as prizes, along with other items to be raffled off to the luckier members of the 115 women in attendance.
Tickets to the event were sold for $20 and netted the WFE $2,300. Participants could play in eight of the ten bingo games with their ticket, but could purchase additional games once inside.
“The Westfield Foundation for Education was founded about a year ago and it’s taken us a little time to get up and running,” said WFE President Amber Danahy, who added that the organization has just been certified as 501c3 non-profit with the Internal Revenue Service. “The idea for this fundraiser came when we – the vice president and I – met with a group last May and heard about this wonderful fundraiser (pocketbook bingo) they were doing in New Jersey and we thought ‘why not?’
“We know a lot of people who enjoy purses and bingo,” said Danahy, adding that the organization has four officers and about 12-15 volunteers total.
“We’re a brand new organization who spun off from Volunteers in Public Schools (VIPS) and we’re looking to build our membership with activities like this,” said WFE Vice President Jeanine Queenin. “We’re out here to get more name recognition and introduce ourselves to the public.”
Queenin added that the group’s next event will be a trivia night in February and she hopes for even more public support.
“VIPS has always been responsible for giving teacher grants,” she added. “We’re just a few people who got together and said ‘teacher grants and making money available for innovative classroom projects is a great idea and, to do it privately, we’ll probably have more success and be able to raise more money, for more grants and more opportunities.”
“We met with the Amherst and Northampton groups, people in St. Louis. We’ve talked to people from all over the country,” said Queenin.
“The proceeds will be going to what is called the Student Mini-Grant Program, so teachers can fill out a grant request form for a special program that they would like to offer and it goes up for approval,” said Danahy. “We’ve received 20 grant applications from teachers in the district in amounts of $500.”
Westfield Superintendent Dr. Suzanne Scallion was in attendance, too, and was assigned the task of drawing the bingo numbers.
“I want to congratulate the organization and all of the attendees. This event is a testament to the commitment families have to our schools,” said Scallion. “It’s good to support our teachers and things that round out our kids’ educations.”
