Our BIG Summer Fiesta was a huge success! Record setting in fact. We raised the most amount of money that we have ever raised from a single fundraiser. As always, we owe a lot of this success to YOU! We have amazing community sponsors and supporters that we’d like to take a minute to thank!
Our Fiesta was last Thursday (May 10th) and everyone had so much fun! The night started off with a Mariachi band and dinner. Once everyone was settled in, the “Pick Your Poison raffle” and silent auction were announced (and flocked to). A little later in the night we honored our graduating seniors and presented them beautiful frames that highlighted their participation in our programs and how they "gave back" as youth leaders to our community! It was a bit emotional and we will miss all of our wonderful seniors.
"I changed for the better, I became more open and I started to figure out the person I wanted to be. The longer I was in the program, the more I noticed myself changing... I want to thank youth odyssey for molding me into the person I am today and who I will be in the future." Donovan, Youth Speaker At The Fiesta
Immediately following the senior gifts, three Youth Leaders shared their stories. They told us about who they were before Youth Odyssey and what Youth Odyssey has done for them. I, personally, am very proud of them for getting up in front of that crowd and speaking. I think they were all a bit nervous but they had great things to say and our guests took their words to heart.
Once we had heard from all of our fabulous speakers, we started the live auction. I had never seen a live auction but it was so exciting! There was lots of back and forth for the items we were auctioning and it had me on the edge of my seat.
"Youth Odyssey [taught] me that I will inevitably face big challenges in life, BUT that I am always capable of overcoming them."Sierra, Youth Odyssey Graduating Senior
That's All Folks...
Things wrapped up pretty quickly after that. Everyone said their last good-byes, We thanked everyone for coming and told them we couldn’t wait to see them again at next year’s Fiesta!
Since then, we've spoke to several people who attended and they shared how much they loved the Youth testimonies; and didn't realize how big our impact was until hearing it from our kids. They also told us they had a blast at the party too. We are so grateful to everyone who came out to show their support for teens in the Coastal Bend Community. The reason our youth get to experience so many new things is because of the generosity of people in our community. People who want to make a difference. Thank you for helping us mold our youth into outstanding adults.
