Story and photos submitted by the Community Outreach committee of the SBA
California Western’s Student Bar Association (SBA) brought back a 20+ year long tradition on Tuesday, Oct. 31. The SBA Halloween Auction, held during lunch in the 350 building first-floor lobby, successfully raised over $2,700 to donate to the Emergency Relief Fund for Save the Children Foundation!
The Cal Western faculty organized the event with the help of SBA’s Community Outreach team, headed by community outreach director Jenny Duren and vice-chair Audrey Chue. Together they collected auction item and bake sale donations, coordinated involvement from student organizations, and manned the fundraiser on Halloween day. Alongside the main auction, students ran fun activity booths such as a psychic reader and a game booth, which collectively generated several hundred dollars. In addition, friendly rivalry between 1L sections brought some good-spirited fun to the event.
As the event neared its end, bids heated up with students vying for Profs. Kenneth Klein and Lisa Black’s dinner. Two groups were competing down to the final minutes, but the 1L group from Prof. Klein’s Civil Procedure class won with their $430 bid. Out of the kindness of the professors’ hearts, they offered a second dinner to the runners-up if they matched the $430 bid. The second group matched the bid, allowing Community Outreach to raise a total of $860 on the item alone! Another big shout out to Professor Klein and Professor Black for offering more of their time to help donate to a good cause.
Lunch with Professor Roberta Thyfault was another popular auction item! She doubled her contribution to two lunches, with two groups of students bidding $250 each! It was definitely another exciting, suspenseful bid war among students.
“We are so glad to have re-established a long-standing tradition in such a successful and memorable way! This event made a substantial charitable contribution while exemplifying what’s best about our law school – the generosity, cooperative spirit, and public-contributing impulse of our students, faculty, and staff,” said Chue. “We all have to remember that there is more to law school than just working and studying, and the Halloween Auction was able to bring a fun aspect to the school. Thank you to all who participated and helped make the event a success.”
In total, the fundraiser raised over $2,700 for Save the Children, a non-profit that aims to offer children a brighter future by providing easier access to health care, an opportunity to learn, and protection from harm. When planning the event, CWSL professors voiced their desire to raise money for an academic program. Save the Children Foundation creates academic programs to help underprivileged children gain access to education at an earlier stage in life, in addition to providing disaster relief during times like Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma.
Community Outreach would like to personally thank everyone involved, including the faculty members who generously donated attractive items fetching lucrative bids: Profs. Thomas Barton, Lisa Black, Robert Bohrer, Justin Brooks (and CIP), Tim Casey, Floralynn Einesman, Jessica Fink, Catherine Hardee, Kenneth Klein, Laura Padilla, Glenn Smith, I. India Thusi, Roberta Thyfault, and Michael Yu.
The following administrators and staff generously contributed donation items and volunteered their time to host this great event: Deans Neils Schaumann, Wendy Bashant, and Shane Dizon; “Coffee Cart” Donna Blaine; and the following student organizations: SBA, Business Law Society, Health Law Society, La Raza, Middle Eastern Law Student Association, Student Animal Legal Defense Fund, Criminal Law Association, Entertainment and Sports Law Society, ACLU, Parents in Law Society, Children’s Advocacy Law Society, and South Asian Law Student Association. The Community Outreach team also wants to thank 1L Brendan Hughes for his help with the event.
Staff members who provided special assistance with event and payment logistics: Pam Puffy, Lisa Wortman, and Ruth Goulding of the Business Office; Lori Boyle in the Alumni Engagement office; Digital Multimedia Technician John Printz; and Jolie Cartier, Nancy Graham, and the rest of Facilities and Maintenance.