Ed and Linda McKee, center, parents of Junior Achievement president/CEO Carrie McKee, visit with Lenora and Greg Tabor at the Black & White Gala. 040817 Photo by Linda Navarro (linda navarro)
The 350 party guests were bent over their smartphones all evening, and this time hosts didn’t mind at all. In fact, they encouraged everyone to do it.
The Junior Achievement of Southern Colorado Black and White Gala committee led by Cheryl Potman had brought in the popular phone-app silent auction bidding system and bidders couldn’t have been busier. Volunteers were on hand to help walk them through it.
Most popular was an impressive lot of sports memorabilia and tickets. Lots of Cubbies and Rockies and Muhammad Ali competition going on with these.
It was an enjoyable, and noisy, way to support Junior Achievement’s financial literacy, entrepreneurship and work readiness programs for thousands of students elementary through high school. By evening’s end on April 8, more than $116,000 had been raised at Cheyenne Mountain Resort.
JA President/CEO Carrie McKee told guests about the 24,000 students impacted and the 900 JA volunteers in the classrooms. Coming up: Biz Town and Finance Park.
Self-confident third grader William Flaxenburg told how he puts the JA programs to use. And, he said, he had also asked his willing mom, Dr. Cynthia Crespin to be a JA classroom volunteer. Featured speaker Yemi Mobolade, a partner in Wild Goose Meeting House and soon-to-be-father of two, is successful in business and life but wishes he had learned the JA programs as a child. “The skills you learn in entrepreneurship are transferable to almost anything you do in life. Stimulating our local economy starts at a young age.”
Upcoming JA events: Castle Pines Golf Invitational, May 11-12; Pueblo Walking Stick Golf Tournament, May 20; 15th annual Colorado Springs JA Golf Classic, Aug. 4, Cheyenne Shadows; Rock ‘n’ Bowl, Harmony Bowl, February 2018, JA-SoCo.org.
Ed and Linda McKee, center, parents of Junior Achievement president/CEO Carrie McKee, visit with Lenora and Greg Tabor at the Black & White Gala. 040817 Photo by Linda Navarro (linda navarro)Junior Achievement Black & White Gala: Carrie Clarke teases her father, Jeff Dunn, as she looks at her smartphone auction bids. 040817 Photo by Linda Navarro (linda navarro)Junior Achievement Black & White Gala: Kaleen and George Fry 040817 Photo by Linda Navarro (linda navarro)Junior Achievement Black & White Gala: Jesse Flaxenburg and daughters Serena, left, Claudia and Veronica were on hand to support the mother-son featured speakers third-grader William and mom Dr. Cynthia Crespin. 040817 Photo by Linda Navarro (linda navarro)Junior Achievement Black & White Gala: Bob and Jeanine Walla 040817 Photo by Linda Navarro (linda navarro)Junior Achievement Black & White Gala: Alexander Rasmussen and Kimberly Pattison 040817 Photo by Linda Navarro (linda navarro)Junior Achievement Black & White Gala: Mary and Alex Valentine bid on Colorado Rockies tickets. 040817 Photo by Linda Navarro (linda navarro)Junior Achievement Black & White Gala: Ann Sulley, center, visits with Charlie Cassidy and Barb Furr-Brodock. 040817 Photo by Linda Navarro (linda navarro)Junior Achievement Black & White Gala: Kim and John Jackson are intent as they get in their final auction bids. 040817 Photo by Linda Navarro (linda navarro)Junior Achievement Black & White Gala: Ace in the Hole auctioneers Bret Wager and Scott Goodhue. 040817 Photo by Linda Navarro (linda navarro)Junior Achievement Black & White Gala: Featured speaker Yemi Mobolade visits with Deb Mahan, left, Lisa Czelatdko and SherryLynn Boyles. 040817 Photo by Linda Navarro (linda navarro)Paula Chavez, center, watches Rhea and Jim Stewart during their smartphone auction bidding at JA’s Black and White Gala. 040817 Photo by Linda Navarro (linda navarro)Junior Achievement Black & White Gala: Craig Bieber and Gina Sacripanti. 040817 Photo by Linda Navarro (linda navarro)Laura Clark and Donny Coram check out the sports memorabilia on the silent auction tables at JA’s Black & White Gala. 040817 Photo by Linda Navarro (linda navarro)Kris Perea had an “ah” moment when she saw Belle, the goldendoodle held by Junior Achievement volunteer Joey Finkbeiner before the Black & White Gala auction. 040817 Photo by Linda Navarro (linda navarro)Junior Achievement Board Chair Ted Mossman congratulated Black & White Gala organizer Cheryl Potman. 040817 Photo by Linda Navarro (linda navarro)Junior Achievement Black & White Gala: Featured speaker Yemi Mobolade visits with Deb Mahan, left, Lisa Czelatdko and Sherry Lynn Boyles. 040817 Photo by Linda Navarro (linda navarro)It was an innovative fundraiser “ask” as a group from the Colorado Springs Conservatory sang “Give a Little Bit” at JA’s Black & White Gala. Performers included students from the after-school program and Panorama Middle School. 040817 Photo by Linda Navarro (linda navarro)Ed and Linda McKee, center, parents of Junior Achievement president/CEO Carrie McKee, visit with Lenora and Greg Tabor at the Black & White Gala. 040817 Photo by Linda Navarro (linda navarro)Junior Achievement Black & White Gala: Carrie Clarke teases her father, Jeff Dunn, as she looks at her smartphone auction bids. 040817 Photo by Linda Navarro (linda navarro)Junior Achievement Black & White Gala: Kaleen and George Fry 040817 Photo by Linda Navarro (linda navarro)Junior Achievement Black & White Gala: Jesse Flaxenburg and daughters Serena, left, Claudia and Veronica were on hand to support the mother-son featured speakers third-grader William and mom Dr. Cynthia Crespin. 040817 Photo by Linda Navarro (linda navarro)Junior Achievement Black & White Gala: Bob and Jeanine Walla 040817 Photo by Linda Navarro (linda navarro)Junior Achievement Black & White Gala: Alexander Rasmussen and Kimberly Pattison 040817 Photo by Linda Navarro (linda navarro)Junior Achievement Black & White Gala: Mary and Alex Valentine bid on Colorado Rockies tickets. 040817 Photo by Linda Navarro (linda navarro)Junior Achievement Black & White Gala: Ann Sulley, center, visits with Charlie Cassidy and Barb Furr-Brodock. 040817 Photo by Linda Navarro (linda navarro)Junior Achievement Black & White Gala: Kim and John Jackson are intent as they get in their final auction bids. 040817 Photo by Linda Navarro (linda navarro)Junior Achievement Black & White Gala: Ace in the Hole auctioneers Bret Wager and Scott Goodhue. 040817 Photo by Linda Navarro (linda navarro)Junior Achievement Black & White Gala: Featured speaker Yemi Mobolade visits with Deb Mahan, left, Lisa Czelatdko and SherryLynn Boyles. 040817 Photo by Linda Navarro (linda navarro)Paula Chavez, center, watches Rhea and Jim Stewart during their smartphone auction bidding at JA’s Black and White Gala. 040817 Photo by Linda Navarro (linda navarro)Junior Achievement Black & White Gala: Craig Bieber and Gina Sacripanti. 040817 Photo by Linda Navarro (linda navarro)Laura Clark and Donny Coram check out the sports memorabilia on the silent auction tables at JA’s Black & White Gala. 040817 Photo by Linda Navarro (linda navarro)Kris Perea had an “ah” moment when she saw Belle, the goldendoodle held by Junior Achievement volunteer Joey Finkbeiner before the Black & White Gala auction. 040817 Photo by Linda Navarro (linda navarro)Junior Achievement Board Chair Ted Mossman congratulated Black & White Gala organizer Cheryl Potman. 040817 Photo by Linda Navarro (linda navarro)Junior Achievement Black & White Gala: Featured speaker Yemi Mobolade visits with Deb Mahan, left, Lisa Czelatdko and SherryLynn Boyles. 040817 Photo by Linda Navarro (linda navarro)It was an innovative fundraiser “ask” as a group from the Colorado Springs Conservatory sang “Give a Little Bit” at JA’s Black & White Gala. Performers included students from the after-school program and Panorama Middle School. 040817 Photo by Linda Navarro (linda navarro)
