Joelle James

SWC Rocks Our Kids! Auction
Positively Kids Newsletter, January, 2004

The Boys and Girls Clubs of Southwest County rocked their 11th Annual Our Kids Rock! Auction and Dinner held at Pechanga's Grand Ballroom on November 22, 2003. With over 900 people in attendance, the Club grossed over $300,000, shattering its prbious mark of $250,000 last year.

Talented Joelle James, 13, (left) and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southwest Country's Rockin' Kids entertain the audience of 11th Annual Our Kids Rock! Auction and Dinner held at the Pechanga Grand Ballroom.

"This year's auction was our most successful auction in our history," said Michelle Arellano, President/CPO. "It's a true testament to our compassionate community."

With entertainment provided by talented singer 13-year-old Joelle James and the Boys & Girls Club "Rockin' Kids," comedian/auctioneer Robert G. Lee, and the Alley Cats, the celebration and its 900+ supporters made this event the largest event in the valley.

"The outstanding support from everyone here spilled over to both the Silent Auction and the Live Auction," said Cindy Gilmore, the Club's Auction Committee Co-Chair. "Not only were we able to raise money for the Club, we kicked off their Holiday shopping season."

More than 600 auction items were donated for the event from an autographed guitar from Cyndi Lauper to Hillary Duff's purse used in her latest hit movie Lizzie McGuire. Silent Auction items went for as little as $10 to as much as $7,600. The autographed B.B. King was the top dollar-getter at $7,600.

"Our auction committee did an outstanding job retrieving all of these donations," said Terry Gilmore, the Club's Board Chair and Co-Chair to the Auction Committee. "Not only did we collect a wide variety of items, we were able to get some pretty unique stuff as well."

During the live auction of the evening, people's generosity really started to show. Over 30 Live Auction packages were up for the bidding including a street to be named, a Honeymoon in Molokai, and a 2004 Toyota Scion XA donated from Toyota of Temecula Valley. The car went for $13,000. Pechanga's Anthony Miranda also joined the festivity by giving additional Live Auction packages during the Live Auction.

The staff of Boys & Girls Club weren't the only ones smiling that evening, Luanne Jobgen from KB home had an even bigger smile. Luanne was the lucky winner of the 2004 Grand Am donated by Carriage Motors.

"It was a wonderful night for us," said Arellano. "But it will be a great 2004 for the kids of our community."