A Harvest for Education, which is the Firebaugh’s Foundation Dinner, took place at the Clinker Brick Estate on Oct. 7 at 5 in the evening.
In addition to a formal dinner, there was both a silent and live auction as well as entertainment by the Killer Dueling Pianos.
This year, about 20 Firebaugh High School students volunteered to help during the evening. The students who attended represented one of the four foundational pillars: agriculture, arts, athletics, or academics.
Aydin Thomas, a senior representing sports, said, “The dinner was great and the guests and other workers seemed friendly. There were no problems at all during the event, it was purely smiles. I had a great time with the people and my friends that were there.”
“I wanted to do it for the experience and to find a way to be more involved in the community,” Emanuel Carrasco said. “I had so much fun at the event” the sophomore (representing agriculture) noted.
The Foundation was started in 2014 and the list of sponsors can be found on the wall entering the Firebaugh High School gymnasium. It is made up of 40 different groups that each contributed $1,000 to get the foundation started. From there, the organization began the dinner.
The dinner was the brainchild of the company that runs the Foundation, Catalano Fenske & Associates (CF&A), along with the district staff, including the former Firebaugh Las-Deltas Unified School District superintendent, Russel Freitas.
This dinner event is hosted to support grants staff can apply for, and scholarships that students every year can apply for. These help support the educational pursuits of academics, agriculture, athletics, and arts within the school district.
The fundraiser dinner began in 2015. Aside from two years during the pandemic, 2020 and 2021, the dinner has taken place every year. This dinner has always been planned for early October.
At the two auctions that happen at the event, there are a plethora of items to bid on. Almost every year, there is something Josh Allen related up for grabs. In Firebaugh, the other thing that really works are desserts.
“We have a large number of desserts that are donated by people within the community that are known for their baking and those usually go for a pretty penny. People actively support the foundations through buying those desserts” said Gene Lieb, a member of the foundation fundraising committee.
“I think community members could continue to engage in the Foundation, they are always looking for more people to serve in different capacities and grow the foundation’s footprint and its ability to do its job and what it’s trying to do” Lieb said. “If you are interested, we would love to have you on the foundation in helping with the fundraiser or even more if you want to do more.”
