The Barrington Youth and Family Services Auxiliary raised $275,000 for BYFS during their annual fundraiser “¡Viva! An Evening in Old Havana” at Barrington Hills Country Club on Saturday. With over 200 guests in attendance, event highlights included live music, Latin dance and hand-rolled cigar demonstrations. Sipping Cuba Libres, ladies helped set the scene in bright, floral dresses with gentlemen wearing straw fedoras and linen suits. Guests say it felt like they were transported to Old Havana, with no detail overlooked during this festive, colorful evening.
(Click any photo for a closer look at the gallery.)
At $275,000, event co-chairs Tiffany Scurto Marshall and Lara Kercinik say the funds raised surpassed last year’s event by 35% thanks to the generosity of donors who contributed to an amazing list of live auction items.
With a final bid of $24,000, two couples won an exclusive Napa Valley experience donated by Jimmy John’s founder, Jimmy John Liautaud. In a surprise move, Jimmy John and Leslie Liautaud matched that amount with an additional monetary donation of $24,000 pledged by phone during the live auction.
Tiffany Scurto Marshall says funds raised Saturday were the highest for a BYFS event in recent history. “The BYFS auxiliary put together a great team of women who really believe in this cause,” Tiffany says. “We had some amazing sponsors and donors. It was emotional to receive that matching $24,000 donation for the Napa experience and I don’t know how we’ll ever thank him. We are blown away by everyone’s generosity.”
(Photos by Liz Schrenk of Something Blue Photography)
Funds raised during Saturday’s “¡Viva! An Evening in Old Havana” Gala will pay for additional counselors and support BYFS community partnerships like SET and BHealthy. SET is summer job training employment after high school for kids with special needs. BHealthy is a new mental health initiative in Barrington.
Barrington Youth & Family Services (BYFS) is a vibrant, sustainable, growing, go-to community agency that creatively and collaboratively builds healthier families by responding to various community and societal needs in the Barrington 220 area. BYFS opened its doors in 1972 and has remained a constant source of support, providing comprehensive family counseling, youth outreach and prevention programming for area youth and their families. It’s BYFS’s goal to help community members through difficult life circumstances including: Anxiety * Depression * Grief/Loss Issues * Self Harm * Stress * Substance Abuse * Suicidal Ideation * Trauma. BYFS also conducts youth outreach and prevention programming on topics surrounding: Latino Services * Peer Mentorship * Substance Abuse * Social Skills Development. Learn more about the BYFS mission at BarringtonBYFS.org.
