Jack’s Helping Hand’s seventh annual barbecue fundraiser was sold out again this year and broke its own record for funds raised, bringing in the highest amount of donations ever received in the event’s history.
On June 29, the community gave more than $230,000 to Jack’s Helping Hand, a local nonprofit organization dedicated to filling the unmet needs of local children and young adults with special needs.
“The amount of donations this year dramatically exceeded our expectations, and we are excited to put those funds to good use,” said Mary Illingworth, the organization’s charitable administrator. “The charitable contributions will help us continue to assist local children with special needs and their families. The community really came together this year to make sure these children’s needs are met. It’s so inspiring.”
Jack’s Helping Hand establishes and provides community programs that enable and empower families, professionals and the broader community to meet the unique unmet physical, mental and medical needs of the special children and young adults in San Luis Obispo County who have not yet reached the age of 21. Ninety percent of the proceeds benefit the Jack’s Helping Hand Assistance Program, an invaluable program that helps provide special treatments, services, expensive equipment and transportation for children with special needs and their families, or that exceed a family’s financial capability. Other Jack’s Helping Hand programs that benefit from the event include the Mommy and Me Little Swimmers program and the Adaptive Toy Lending Libraries throughout the county. Jack’s Helping Hand is the only local organization that provides these programs and services in San Luis Obispo County.
The event was held at Santa Margarita Ranch on June 29, and tickets for the event sold out well before then. More than 635 guests attended the fundraiser, which included a barbecue buffet, and entertainment from Los Mariachis and JD Project. Seasoned auctioneer Jim Settle also returned to host the live auction.
The community generously donated more than 60 high-value items for the live and silent auctions, which included a Tuscan Farmhouse Holiday donated by Noreen Martin-Hulburd, a weeklong vacation in the Hamptons donated by Mary and Jim Lewis, and an amazing Alaskan adventure donated by the Attala family, James family and Storrs family. All of the amazing packages and giveaways made the auctions an enormous success – more than $207,000 was raised from the live auction alone.
Kevin Main Jewelry also generously donated a custom-made gold pendant to one lucky winner at the event. The pendant was personally designed by Kevin Main and fabricated by artisans of Kevin Main Jewelry, providing a timeless confirmation of a commitment to provide for unmet needs of the special children within our community.
Visit www.jackshelpinghand.org or call (805) 547-1914 for more information on the nonprofit’s programs and services.