Hoover Service Club 2019 gala raises money for scholarships, charities
The Hoover Service Club estimated it raised more than $60,000 for charities and college scholarships Saturday with its 2019 Hearts in Harmony Gala.
Final numbers had not been calculated as of Sunday afternoon, but Lynda Wasden, one of the lead organizers of the gala, estimated the club surpassed the $61,000 raised with the event in 2018.
About 225 people came to the fundraiser dinner at the Hoover Country Club Saturday night.
A live auction raised close to $30,000. Two people paid $3,750 each for a seven-night stay for four people in Manciano, Italy, while a seven-night stay for a Gulf Shores condo that sleeps eight people was auctioned for $2,750.
Other live auction items included a seven-night stay in a five-bedroom house at Smith Lake, a shrimp boil for 50 people, a diamond band from Steed’s Jewelers, a quail hunt for four people at Double Mountain Preserve and a sportsman’s package that included two tickets and hospitality packages to the Honda Grand Prix of Alabama, Regions Tradition golf tournament and SEC Baseball Tournament.
The night began with a silent auction and was followed by a steak and shrimp dinner. After the live auction, Birmingham theater regulars Kristi Tingle Higginbotham and Jan Hunter — who perform together as the Hot Tamales — provided entertainment.
Tickets for the gala were $125 apiece, and more than a dozen people collectively pledged more than $10,000 in donations at the end of the live auction.
Wasden said she was quite pleased with the results of the gala, which is the group’s largest fundraiser of the year.
Money raised will go partially to college scholarships for students who might not be at the top of their class but display initiative and a need for assistance.
The Hoover Service Club also uses proceeds to help charitable groups such as Oak Mountain Missions, the food bank at Green Valley Baptist Church, Hoover Parks and Recreation Foundation, Hoover City Schools Foundation, Aldridge Gardens, Breast Cancer Research Foundation and Hoover Helps (which provides food for children in Hoover).
Hoover Councilman John Lyda served master of ceremonies for the night, and Dwight Sandlin and Jonathan Belcher of Signature Homes were honorary chairmen.