Blueprints & Blue Jeans 2014

Published by Austin Habitat Development Associate, Isto Barton

Who cares about placemats?

The formula for a fundraiser is roughly the same no matter what event you go to. Venue. Food. Drinks. Entertainment. Decorations.

Lather.

Rinse.

Repeat.

It’s easy to become jaded when planning a fundraiser for an organization like Austin Habitat for Humanity. My colleagues spend their days interacting with our clients: counselling Austinites on financial responsibility through our Housing Counseling Program; making homes safe for the elderly and disabled through our Home Repair Program; turning furniture donations into dollars at the ReStore; and, of course, building homes with hardworking Central Texans through the Affordable Homeownership Program. It was hard for me to connect the triviality of event planning to the incredible groundwork of our staff, volunteers, subcontractors, and clients.

Before long the aforementioned checklist was secured and the evening was upon us.

Venue: Getaway Motor Club. Check.

Food: Word of Mouth. Check.

Drinks: Pinthouse Pizza; Deep Eddy Vodka. Check.

Entertainment: Dale Watson. Check.

Decorations: Valerie Miller Events. Check.

Check. Check. Check.

The evening began with the phenomenal Dale Watson playing music to a dancing audience. Those not dancing helped themselves to a Tater Tot Bar, Mini Meatloaf, and Chicken & Waffles. A Deep Eddy Betty stirred signature cocktails whileSay Cheese snapped photos with their photo booth. Three kegs of beer from Pinthouse Pizza flowed upstairs where you could play  Jenga or “Guess the length of the 2x4.”

The night proceeded as CEO Kelly Weiss welcomed the crowd and thanked our sponsors. Board member Jeff Serra spoke to us about the importance of Habitat for Humanity, and told the stories of the Ingram, Castro, and Mengistu families. As he concluded, it was time to hand the mic to Gayle Stallings of FUN Auctions – assisted by volunteers and habitat homeowners. The game was on!

Five Auction items later, we had raised around $15,000 and were ready for the Cevallos Brothers’Fund the Need video (can be viewed here). The sniffles that spread across the audience were soon drowned by thunderous applause as Ms. Loya came to the front of the house. The next ten minutes were a blur. Paddles flew to the melody of the auctioneering as we raised $10 thousand… $25 thousand… $50 thousand! I was cheering from the back of the auditorium as the rest of our staff tallied our totals from the evening.

Night-of, we walked away with $140,000 – enough money to pay for the supplies of two Habitat homes. 

As Dale resumed playing and the dancing started up again, I reflected on the triviality of the placemat.

Blueprints & Blue Jeans provided our donors, volunteers, staff, subcontractors, and clients to come together under one roof for a much-needed pat on the back. We got to sit back as a community and appreciate what Austin Habitat for Humanity accomplished over the last year. Our contractors got to have a drink with our homeowners. Our donors got to meet the wide range of our Habitat staff. We all took a moment to celebrate. To appreciate. To congratulate. And it was this energy: kicked into gear with lively music in a beautiful venue – satiated with meatloaf, and aided by a few drinks that we came together to raise two roofs in one night. I love that.

If someone has to care about placemats, I couldn’t be happier to have that job.