Lily’s Luau Hits Big Number: $180,000
Luau guests donated $25,000 in less than four minutes. (photo by Jim Gill)
Fundraising is about numbers, and Lily’s Luau is no exception, so here are a few numbers to crunch:
- 700+ guests
- 150+ volunteers
- 3 nuns in Badger red
- 1 mezzo-soprano
- 5 scientists wearing purple capes
- 2 videos
- 25K in 4 minutes
But the Luau is also about the people behind the numbers. It’s about the teacher from Elroy, Wis. who lives with epilepsy, who was reunited with a former student, a Luau volunteer. It’s about a room of 700+ who are silenced in a heartbeat by the powerful performance of Kitt Reuter Foss. It’s about a song, “Beautiful Day” by U2, which during its play fosters a crowd to donate $25,000 in 4 minutes. And it’s about one family who steps forward with a surprise $12,000 donation. There are so many stories that will come forward throughout the year.
There’s also the bottom line:
$180,000 in net proceeds to support epilepsy research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Look out, epilepsy. We’ve got your number!
See our two Facebook photo albums:
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
