 "Photo: Ramona Flume")
Every evening in Las Vegas, a spectacular musical fountain greets visitors to the Bellagio hotel and casino. Friday evening at the University's School of Social Work casino night, visitors were greeted by a 5-foot cardboard cutout of Elvis Presley.
While lacking the scope and spectacle of the real thing, the School of Social Work's Las Vegas-themed fundraiser entertained about 200 guests with casino games, dinner and a musical performance by The Ransom Notes. The fundraiser benefited the Student Support Fund, an emergency and travel fund for the school's students.
"If the students have a house fire or need new car tires to get to school, they can tap into this fund," said committee chair Jennifer Luna-Idunate. "It's also used for professional development purposes. If we have students that have to go to a professional conference to deliver a paper, they can use the money for travel."
Admission for the event was $10 for students and $20 for adults and included a buffet dinner plus $20,000 of "funny money" to spend on casino games. Silent and live auctions featured more than 20 items - gift baskets, jewelry, art, autographed items and others - donated by businesses and artists for the support fund.
Luna-Idunate said it took three months to collect item donations for the auction, a day to decorate the school for the event and an hour to tear it all down.
The support fund awards up to $350 to students who qualify. David Johnson, a doctoral student, used money from the fund in 2007 to help pay for a research-related trip to a Washington state prison.
Johnson showed his gratitude to the school by placing the winning bid of $260 during the live auction for a dinner with the school's dean.
"I do this because if it helps the school, it helps me," Johnson said.
Funds are maintained by the school's annual variety show and auction, which was replaced by the casino night fundraiser this year while the school's theater is remodeled. The event typically raises between $6,000 and $10,000 for the fund, event coordinators said.
Be the first to comment on this article!