A Note From Our Director Of Advancement, Matt Buche:
In April 2018 the Lafayette Catholic School System (LCSS) celebrated the 25th Annual Blue Knight Auction (BKA). After 25 years being a part of our LCSS community, it remains the community standard for events in Greater Lafayette. The generosity of our community continues to amaze me and we cannot say THANK YOU enough!
FINANCIALS
The evening was a success! More than 425 guests raised over $300,000, making the 25th the fourth best auction in the system’s history. For the second year in a row, our principals and teachers led the efforts for direct support in the classroom. Over 200 items were made available for donors to purchase across all four schools. Nearly 100 items were purchased for the teacher’s classrooms. We are grateful to all of our supporters who made this possible!
This year we introduced the Silver Ticket Raffle and it will not be the last. All 150 tickets were sold. The winner was given their choice of one item from the Oral Auction or Free Tuition for a Year for One Student. School parents, Larry and Katrina Fultz, were the first time winners and elected to receive a year of free tuition for one of their three children who attend the Catholic Schools. Congratulations Larry and Katrina on the win and thank you to everyone who supported this exciting new raffle.
SPONSORS & VOLUNTEERS
Corporate sponsors play a critical role to the financial success of our schools and are a big part of the Blue Knight Auction. They do everything from providing direct financial support to donating services. Thank you Auto Express, Roeing Corporation, Keller Williams Albregts Team, DeFouw Automotive, M.P. Baker Electric, sdi Innovations, Keller Williams Scott M. Brown, Lafayette Country Club, Soller Baker Funeral Homes, Inc., Promenade Self Storage, Team MJV and Sunbelt Rentals. If you know one of these company owners, please say Thank You.
It takes an army of volunteers to plan, build and execute the BKA. In November 2017, the Advancement Office lost our Event Manager. A lot of planning and execution needed to get done and there was no one in place to lead the efforts. I would like to publicly thank individuals who walked into a difficult situation to make this event successful: Katie Hensley, Jenny Bogan, Brian Roark, Lindsey Bogan, Chelsey Dowden, Laura DeFabio Smith, Jim Cooley, Stephen Weintraut, Paul Page, Kari Schrader, Tricia Olinger, Tori Hart, Jenny Peters, Elena Fine, Joe Gerrety, Lisa Fusiek, Paul Frey, Kirsten Brkaric, and all of our faculty and staff who went above and beyond…THANK YOU!!! The volunteer effort this year was remarkable from our students, parents, staff and friends. It takes a village to make our System great and we could not have done it without you.
LOOKING FORWARD
I am excited to share, plans are already under way for the April 27, 2019 Blue Knight Auction, with an exceptional leader. Christine Siemers, who is no stranger to the auction or any LCSS event, accepted the Event Manager role in June. Christine has hit the ground running and is an exciting addition to our School System. If you would like to get involved, please contact Christine or myself. We are always searching for more people to get involved.
