People pay big bucks to work out with Noah Galloway, raise money for Hoover schools
Plenty of people pay to work out in a gym, but not too many people pay $2,000.
That’s exactly what two people did Friday night at the fourth annual Denim & Dining fundraiser for the Hoover City Schools Foundation.
The draw was that the bidders in the fundraiser’s live auction got to take two friends with them to be led in a workout by Noah Galloway, an Army veteran who became a fitness expert and motivational speaker after losing half of an arm and leg during the Iraq war.
Men’s Health Magazine in November 2014 put Galloway on its cover and named him the 2014 Ultimate Guy. The Birmingham area native has been a guest on numerous national talk shows and placed third in Season 20 of ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars.”
In addition to the workout with Galloway at F45 Hoover Training, the auction package also included lunch with Galloway at The Bright Star restaurant in Bessemer and three autographed copies of his book, “Living With No Excuses.”
As a bidding battle neared the $2,000 range Friday night, Galloway came forward from the audience and offered to train both groups of people if they each would donate $2,000 to the foundation, and the two bidders agreed.
The Noah Galloway package was just one of four packages offered in the live auction at Friday night’s fundraiser.
Donors also gave: $2,600 for a meal with wine for eight people at the new Tre Luna Bar and Kitchen in The Village at Brock’s Gap; $2,400 for heavy hors’ d’oeuvres and a wine tasting for 10 people by Tre Luna caterers and wine expert Scott Jones of Jones is Thirsty; and $650 for a his-and-her package that included a round of golf for two at Riverchase Country Club, $50 gift certificate for a Nova Nails & Spa manicure/pedicure, 60-minute birds-eye view of Hoover with Over the Mountain Aviation and a $100 gift certificate to Bonefish Grill.
About 80 more items were in a silent auction, including tickets to Alabama and UAB football games, the SEC Baseball Tournament, Alabama Symphony Orchestra, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Alabama Theatre and AMC Patton Creek movie theater.
The silent auction also included items such as gift certificates to restaurants, jewelry, a gas grill, ice cream and Bundt cakes for a year, facial services, a photo shoot, private tennis lessons, stays in Hoover hotels, and vacation packages to places such as Antigua, Barbados, Panama and Perdido Key, Florida.
Guests also pledged at least $15,300 in straight-up donations to the foundation, said Janet Turner, the foundation’s executive director. About 220 people bought tickets to this year’s Denim & Dining event, she said. Regular tickets were $65 or $75, depending on when purchased, and VIP tickets with extra benefits were $125.
STRONG RESPONSE
Turner said she was blown away by the response this year. While final totals were not yet known Saturday morning, she feels certain this year’s event will surpass the $39,000 in gross donations from last year and will net more money after expenses are paid.
She could tell it was going to be a good year even before the event began because of the number of entities that signed up as sponsors or donated items for the auctions, she said. “It really felt like the entire community was behind us.”
The foundation’s student board collected more than $1,000 worth of gift cards from businesses, with each one worth at least $25, Turner said. Guests were invited to donate $25 and get a random gift card without knowing the name of the business or the amount of the gift card, but some of the cards were worth as much as $100, Turner said.
This year’s Denim & Dining event was held at Noah’s Event Venue in International Park off Acton Road. The three previous ones were in the banquet room at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium. Turner said she was very pleased with the new venue.
The night began at 6:30 with cocktails, a silent auction, live music by students from Hoover schools and dinner catered by Jim ‘N Nick’s Bar-B-Q. The live auction, conducted by Lou Dempsey of Dempsey Auction Co., began shortly after 8 p.m. and was followed by a band led by Simmons Middle School teacher Robert Abernathy and the conclusion of the silent auction.
FUNDING INNOVATIVE PROJECTS
The foundation uses proceeds from the event to provide grants for innovative programs and projects by teachers in Hoover schools.
Hoover schools Superintendent Kathy Murphy said she really enjoys seeing Hoover teachers think outside the box to come up with new ways to teach children, and she thanked the foundation and its donors for supporting the teachers in those endeavors.
The need is great, Murphy said. Hoover teachers have asked for $135,000 worth of grants, she said.
Lake Cyrus residents Mike and Julie Anderson were among the guests Friday night. They have a child at Hoover High and another who already graduated from Hoover.
Julie Anderson said she and her husband have always been big supporters of the school system. She has served on Parent Teacher Organization boards at Deer Valley Elementary, Brock’s Gap Intermediate and Bumpus Middle School and helped sift through requests for grant money given out by the PTOs, so she got to hear firsthand about some of the innovative projects by teachers, she said.
The Hoover City Schools Foundation really stepped up its fundraising efforts about five or six years ago and began giving out more grant money, so she and her husband came Friday night to support those efforts, she said.
To learn more about the Hoover City Schools Foundation and how to donate, go to hoovercsf.org.