Last year the event raised $38K for local sports
Published in the March 4 – 17, 2015 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Marty Cheek
Morgan Hill Life file photo
Cherisse White and Ava Serna display an auction item at last year’s event.
Because local residents enjoy an evening of fine wine and quality cuisine every year at a gala at the Morgan Hill Community and Cultural Center, Morgan Hill student athletes can enjoy playing school sports.
The South Valley Wine Auction is the premiere food and wine event in the South Valley which raises tens of thousands of dollars to supplement the athletics programs at Live Oak and Sobrato high schools as well as Britton and Martin Murphy middle schools.
The gala is a fun way for the community to support the education of kids through athletics, said Dave Roman, the president of the Live Oak Athletic Boosters Club which receives funding from the event. Last year, the auction raised $38,000. Parents and students from both high school boosters clubs volunteer their time in making the event happen.
“Essentially, the South Valley Wine Auction is the biggest fundraising event that we get to participate in each year,” he said. “It gives us the biggest contributions of the funds we need in order to continue the athletic events at the high school. It’s our primary type of activity for us and we would have to do a lot of other fundraising if it happened to go away.”
The SVWA has a governing board that works with the various booster volunteers, Roman said. His daughters Garielle (a Live Oak senior) and Madison (a Live Oak freshman) both play field hockey and have played basketball in past years.
The auction can focus many volunteers on teaming together in a single community-organized event to raise funds that were cut out of the district’s budget in past years. The two boosters clubs use the money to pay for items such as footballs and basketballs. Live Oak used the money recently to install a new sound system for the football field. Money also goes to pay for cleaning equipment for the gym.
Morgan Hill Life file photo
Auctioneer Mark Turner gets the crowds excited about bidding for a bottle of Calera wine, held by Martin Groen, with Cherisse White looking on.
“When they need volunteers, they’ll come to the boosters organizations and get people to help out with that,” Roman said. “Students themselves can’t help during the running of the event if alcohol is present, but they help with the set up and clean up and other activities associated with the events. The parents of the student athletics often help by volunteering their time with the group that puts on the event.”
Becky Obbema serves as the committee president of the SVWA. She joined the group when her twin daughters Jenny and Katie played volleyball and softball at Live Oak. Donna Brusachetti, the SVWA committee president at that time, asked her to participate.
About 20 committee members are actively involved in making the event successful, she said. Many of them no longer have kids in local school sports programs but continue to participate.
“It’s a fun event,” she said. “We put on a great event that we’re really proud to be a part of and we’re proud to bring to our community. And we would like to extend that invitation to other parents and people of the community and ask them to share in our efforts to help our kids in school sports.”
The organization has grown to broaden its mission in the past 17 years since it was founded, Obbema said. The first auction was held in 1999 as a fundraiser for the track and running programs at Live Oak. Over the years, it expanded to support all athletic programs in the Morgan Hill Unified School District.
The event will feature wine from Clos LaChance Winery, Creekview Vineyards, Guglielmo Winery, Paradise Valley Vineyards, Lightheart Cellars, Fortino Winery, J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines, Aver Family Vineyards, Sunlit Oaks Winery, and Sycamore Creek Vineyards. Beer will be served by the El Toro Brewing Company.
Participating restaurants include Rosy’s at the Beach, Noah’s Bar & Bistro, Maurizio’s, Ladera Grill, Jonty’s Vietnamese Eatery, Grinds Vines & Automobilia Cafe, The Good Fork, Mr. Hong’s, Bubbles Wine Bar and Huntington Station Restaurant and Sports Bar.
Corporate sponsors include Live All Media, TenCate, and The Ford Store. The Morgan Hill Community Foundation is a nonprofit partner of the event.
“Without all that local support, this event would not be successful,” Obbema said. “It’s the glamor of this event that attracts so many people and lets us be able to highlight some of the great wineries and restaurants that we have here and pair them up.”
Gilroy Chamber of Commerce CEO/President Mark Turner served as the emcee and auctioneer at last year’s event, and his personable style encouraged people to be generous in purchasing auction items, she said.
“He really was a big reason why we were able to raise as much money as we did,” she said. “He engaged the audience and got everyone energized and excited about the cause and to really reach deep into their wallets and support the kids.”
Young athletes wouldn’t be able to play sports in schools without the SVWA’s assistance, Roman said.
“Sports would not happen at Live Oak if the boosters weren’t involved or the South Valley Wine Auction was involved,” he said. “The schools are not able to fund those (athletics) fees because of all the money that has been cut the past few years with the different budgeting that’s happened in the district. Essentially, I can safely say, if SVWA weren’t here today, there would be no sporting events at Live Oak next year because they probably wouldn’t be able to provide the funding.”
The Sobrato Athletics Boosters Club also gains much from the wine auction and the engagement of the families and community in raising funds, said Jana Levic, president of the club.
“This auction is the biggest fundraising event for us,” she said. “We don’t have any others as big as this one. Without the funds that are raised by the SVWA, we would not be able to fund at least 80 percent of our sports at Sobrato.”
In past years, money raised by the auction has helped to purchase a portable scoreboard for indoor sports as well as the football field, folding chairs for the gym, a water polo clock and $10,000 in weight room equipment.
“This is one event where Live Oak and Sobrato work together because we know how important it is that this event keeps sports alive,” Levic said.
