This year’s WAGS to RICHES event turned out to be our most successful fundraiser to date. APS once again hosted around 175 guests at the beautiful home of Bob and Lissa McDowell on the westside of San Juan Island. The weather was fantastic, great food provided by Celtic Cowboy BBQ of Edmonds, WA and live music by the Kubatana Marimba Band followed by the ‘J-Bots’. There was both a great silent auction with many local and off-island donations, as well as a very successful live auction with auctioneer Jay Fiske of NW Benefit Auctions. During the Raise the Paddle portion of the live auction, Bob & Lissa McDowell graciously offered to match up to $50,000 in pledges to help benefit the new shelter project. The crowd rallied and exceeded our hopes and expectations by pledging just over $85,000! With McDowell’s match and the proceeds from both the silent and live auctions, APS raised over $150,000 in auction purchases and pledges, all to benefit the New Home – New Hope Shelter Project! A big ‘thank you’ to all the sponsors, donors, guests and volunteers for their participation in this year’s event.
Follow up note, this year’s raffle was also a huge success. The winner of the $500 in gas cards was Kirsten Daniel. Pat & Christy Bickford won the weekend getaway to Seabrook on the Washington coast. And Don and Katie Peek were the grand prize winners of the 2 Luxury Seat tickets to the Seahawks / Cowboys game with a night stay at the Fairmont Olympic in Seattle. Don and Katie let the auctioneer know they were not able to attend the game in October and graciously offered the tickets back up for auction, raising another $1750.00! What a day it was for APS!