Starkey Hearing Foundation Gala 2012

The Twin Cities Alumnae Chapter of Delta Zeta Sorority was honored again to support this year's Starkey Hearing Foundation So the World May Hear Awards Gala in St. Paul, MN. Alumnae chapter members, collegiate sisters, family members, and national officers participated in several events.

Table Guests: As a Platinum sponsor, Delta Zeta had an ad in the Gala program and a table for 8 guests.  The Twin Cities Alumnae Chapter was honored to welcome the following special guests to St. Paul:

Jeanine Triplett (National President)

Cindy Menges (Executive Director)

Tycene Frichter (National Philantrophy Chairwoman)

Chris Martin (Region VIII RCD)

Sue Feuerherm (Past National Officer) 

Barb Brotherton (Minnesota State Alumnae Chair and Twin Cities Alumnae Chapter President)

Carolyn Kapuska (Theta Mu President)

and Molly Dazcyk (Zeta Beta President)

Delta Zeta and Winner Notification Lead: Holly Thompson coordinates the volunteers and communicates with the Starkey Volunteer coordinator to make sure that the right spaces are filled for several months leading up to the event.  Holly also leads the winner notification team at volunteer orientation and during the gala. She is a point of contact during the silent auction. 

Auction Set Up: Stephanie Erickson assisted the volunteer coordinator for 2 days preceding the event. Her main duties were to arrange the silent auction items. Stephanie also was chosen to volunteer in the VIP lounge during the Gala and was steps away from several celebrities.

Bag Stuffing: This duty involves preparing the gifts that will be on the tables for the guests.  This year we only had to stuff 800 bags instead of 1,600.  The bags included t-shirts, bracelets, earplugs, a book, program, and tissue paper.  The following ladies worked from about 9am - 5 pm the day before the event: Jane Spartz, Tycene Frichter, Chris Martin, Carolyn Kapuska, Brittany Makal, Cindy Menges, Julie Hauser, Abby Wright, Kay Kilpatrick, Jennifer Graetz, Barb Brotherton, Carly Pieters, and Stephanie Bauman. 

Golf Tournament: This year, Delta Zeta received two entries for the Starkey golf tournament.  Julie Hauser and Cindy Menges represented Delta Zeta. Julie had the longest drive and won the top prize in the raffle!

Celebrity Handlers: The handler team members are assigned a celebrity for the weekend and are asked to accompany them to Starkey events and assist with whatever they need.  Danielle Juskiewicz, Jennifer Perovich, Brittany Makal, Lauren Andruss, DJ Dahl, Katie Brummer, and Katie Oja represented Delta Zeta.

Silent Auction/Winner Notification/Hearing Angel: Most of the Delta Zetas who volunteer at the Gala perform these duties.  Silent auction volunteers stand near a section of items to answer questions and make the guests feel welcome.  The winner notification team enters the ballroom during the program to notify silent auction winners and provides instructions on how to claim their items.  During the Hearing Angel portion of the evening, volunteers walk through the ballroom with buckets for guests to drop in a poker chip to donate extra funds to the foundation.  The members of this team for 2012 were: Holly Thompson, Shelley Monitor (Central Plains AAD), Julie Hauser, Lesley Farnham, Stephanie Erickson, Abby Wright, Julie Speiker, Scott Maasch, Kassara Kneeland, and Kay Kilpatrick.

The Gala raised $7.6 million dollars this year and the Twin Cities Alumnae Chapter is proud to serve one of our national philanthropic partners at their biggest fundraising event of the year.