This year’s Rocky River Education Foundation fundraiser, A Sky Full of Stars, sold out before the paper invitations were even sent. If you didn’t get a ticket, there are still plenty of ways to support the RREF’s programs. And if you did manage to get a ticket, you’re in for one terrific night.
Kerry Capka the 2015 fund-raising co-chair along with Kendal Purohit, is “thankful and overwhelmed” by the community’s response to ticket sales. “We could never have anticipated this response,” she says, since last year’s event, while popular, only had a waiting list of ten people once all the tickets were sold.
The 280 guests at the March 21 event will be treated to “A Sky Full of Stars." Mrs. Capka and Mrs. Purohit say the stars as those who support the schools. “Our sponsors, community members, teachers, and administration,” says Mrs. Capka, “are the stars who fill our skies. Who support the schools and the RREF.”
The stars who support the RREF include the fundraiser’s three presenting sponsors: First Federal Lakewood Bank, Gloria Hardington Howard Hanna Real Estate Services and Brindza, McIntyre & Seed LLP. “There’s also been an incredible outpouring of sponsorship from groups of friends who have gotten together to sponsor a table,” says Mrs. Capka. She also credits RREF president Michelle Pike for her involvement in planning the fundraiser and graphic designer Stacie Gerrity for her design of the fundraiser’s logo and invitations.
While the RREF fundraising event benefits the RREF’s ongoing support of the Rocky River schools, Rocky River community members who are not attending the fundraiser also have the opportunity to support the RREF.
The RREF funds teacher and school-requested grants, and all the money raised at the March 21 event will go towards that. Community members who want to support these grants can do so at anytime by going to the RREF website, which is linked to the RRCS site. There’s even the opportunity to earmark those funds for subject matter of the donor’s choice, like art, technology, or music (a recent grant from the RREF brought music therapists into the REACH program).
RREF donations are also used to fund school speakers like Trudy Ludwig, an anti-bullying author who recently spoke at Goldwood and Kensington. The popular “Raise the Pirate” portion of last year’s RREF fundraiser, in which people raised their paddle to donate to the speaker series, raised $15,000 in a matter of minutes and will be repeated this year.
As Rocky River prepares itself for A Sky Full of Stars, the RREF continues to do its part to make the Rocky River schools shine bright. And everyone in the community is invited to join in.