September 24, 2010
CEF Fundraiser in Vincennes raises funds for Catholic education
By KRISTY CARDINAL (Special to the Message)
The Christian Education Foundation held its twelfth annual Fall Gathering at the Highland Woods last Saturday, Sept. 18. The yearly event helps raise funds for the Vincennes Catholic schools. This year’s theme was “Make a Difference.”
The gathering started at 5 p.m. with dinner and social time. Attendees were able to bid on silent auction items and purchase tickets for bucket and theme basket raffles. The live auction began at 7:30 p.m. with auctioneer John Snider.
“It’s a lot of hard work org-anizing the auction and taking bids. It is for a great cause and I enjoy contributing my time each year,” the Rivet High School graduate said.
Auction items included signed items by Lincoln High School graduate Clint Barmes, of the Colorado Rockies and North Knox High School graduate Nevin Ashley, who is in the Tampa Bay Rays minor league system. St. Louis Cardinals and Indianapolis Colts tickets also caught the eye of bidders. The auction crowd extensively bid back and forth on memorabilia from the Rivet 2009-2010 state finalist teams and events.
Karen Bible, Title 1 teacher for a reading and math study hall at Flaget Elementary School, attends the fundraiser every year. “The live auction is made very special by the creation of handmade quilts from students in grades kindergarten through six.” Students created their own quilt blocks and volunteers assemble the quilts.
Jolie Delisle of Sacred Heart Church attended with her mother Sandy Delisle of St. Vincent de Paul Church. Jolie said, “My favorite part of the night is seeing all the people that come out to support the Catholic schools.”
Annually, the CEF raises about $200,000 for the operational costs of the two Catholic schools in Vincennes. The Fall Gathering and the Germanfest, held in August, are two of the foundation’s biggest fundraisers.