Record Fundraiser – 17th Crab Feed by DeAnza Lions and Sunnyvale Sunrise Rotary Club

Once again the DeAnza Lions and the Sunnyvale Sunrise Rotary club had teamed up for the annual crab feed on January 26^th, 2013. As always, two seatings were planned for 300 people each, and by golly, almost all tickets were sold, despite a slightly higher cost for each ticket this year.

For the fourth year in a row, the event took place at the Community Hall of St. Williams Parish in Los Altos. Our friends from the Fish Market restaurant arrived with fresh crab which was already cleaned so the usual scrubbing crew did not have to get up by 5:00am on Friday morning.

Beer (Firehouse brewery), music (the Thrown Together Jazz Band), about $ 9,000 worth of gifts in kind (tirelessly solicited by Lion Steve and his wife Ellen) as well as hundreds of volunteer hours were donated to the event – all of it helps raising funds for the two clubs and its charities.

After serving a small salad, endless bowls with garlic bread, pasta and crab were served by eager high school students from various youth clubs, including LEO clubs from Monta Vista and Lynbrook High. While volunteers from the Fish Market helped cook the crab outside, a team of lions and Rotarians were busy in the kitchen, cooking, washing pots and serving bowls, and replenishing the latter with freshly baked garlic bread and pasta. Needless to say that lemon wedges, melted butter and lots of tomato sauce rounded out the dinner.

Shouts of joy could be heard when a guest found that his or her raffle ticket matched the ticket number announced by the maître d’ or one of his little helpers – prizes and auction items worth $ 9,000 were raffled and auctioned off. At the end of the first round of diners, the band members lead a march through the densely populated hall, followed by many happy guests.

After a short break, in which the tables were prepared for the second set of guests, the volunteers enjoyed a slice or two of Pizza, before another crowd of almost 300 people showed up.

This year’s takings in the lockbox amounted to $ 1420.00, earmarked for the victims of Hurricane Sandy, while overall funds raised amounted to $ 24,000. A roaring Thank You to all of our guests and contributors!

We also want to thank all of our sponsors, volunteers, Rotarians, Leos, members of other youth clubs like Interact, the Fish Market, the Band, Lions and their family members for orchestrating another successful fundraising event.