It’s that time of year again. The cold weather is a distant memory, the sun is shining, spring is here and the service opportunities and events of The Young Lawyers Section of the Jacksonville Bar Association are in full swing.
On April 17, the YLS is teaming up with the Jacksonville Women Lawyers Association to bring back the Charity Date Auction to raise money for Jacksonville Area Legal Aid.
As many of you may remember, JWLA hosted the inaugural Bachelor/Bachelorette Auction in 2012. The event was a blast and raised almost $10,000 for JALA.
I participated as one of the bachelorettes and my now-husband paid $750 for a date with me. That is how we began our relationship and now, we are married. … OK, so that is not entirely true. We were already dating and the only reason he paid $750 was because my dad kept upping the bid. But it was all for a great cause.
This year, the auction has been revamped and now attendees are able to bid on the date packages and activities and not the actual person so couples are encouraged to come out and bid, bid, bid.
Of course, no date auction is complete without some eye candy so, we have local attorney “cupids” on hand to model and advertise the date packages, including Adina Pollan of Gray Robinson; Diana Johnson of Johnson and Lufrando; Assistant State Attorney Brittany Mauerberger; Alexander Moody, Florida Coastal School of Law professor/moot court director; Assistant Public Defender Garth Cheek; Troy Farquhar, Integrity Law; Drew O’Malley, Holland & Knight; Kyle Kelly, Wounded Warrior Project; Natasha Dorsey, Foley & Lardner; Preston Oughton, the Law Office of Preston H. Oughton; Albert Lechner, Terrell Hogan; Sharlene Stanford; and JALA’s own Josh Zmroczek.
The event will be 6-9 p.m. April 17 at the Hyatt Regency Downtown.
Tickets are only $35 (or $60 per couple), which includes entry into the event, heavy appetizers, two drink tickets, access to the silent and live auction — plus a guaranteed good time. You can’t beat that.
The Date Auction Committee of Renée Maxey, Jennifer Kifer, Jenny Richardson, Cynthia Trimmer, Samantha Giudici, Jessica Mathis, Francine Palmeri and Yaima Coto have worked tirelessly to make this event a huge success.
These amazing ladies have obtained some fabulous date packages and silent auction items from local businesses, hotels, resorts and restaurants, including tickets to TPC, Ruth’s Chris gift certificates, a weekend stay at the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club, One Ocean spa gift certificates, golf outings, gym memberships, horseback riding, paintball, tickets to Alhambra Theatre & Dining, the Florida Theatre and even Botox.
We are all aware of the unfortunate cuts in funding that JALA has had to endure over the past few years.
This event is a great way to show your support and help raise money for this organization that is so vital to the citizens of Jacksonville and have a great time doing it. For more information or to purchase tickets, please contact me at [email protected].
I hope to see you at the YLS/JWLA Charity Date Auction on April 17.