Students at St. Elizabeth of Hungary School in Oak Cliff are ready to march in the Oak Cliff Mardi Gras Parade on Sunday, kicking off an Easter season that will culminate in a Fiesta and Silent Auction on Cinco de Mayo.
Meanwhile, St. Elizabeth's parent Andy Goza will once again be canvassing for amazing items for the annual St Elizabeth of Hungary Silent Auction, but this will be his last year at the helm.
Goza is the proud father of an 8th grader who will soon be a Saints graduate and off to freshman year in a different school, so he’ll be turning over the leadership to the committee he’s been working with for years. His co-chairs this year includes his wife, Susan, and Saints parent Melissa Maldanado.
“Melissa is a fabulous stager,” Goza explains, “She makes everything look fantastic, so they’re more likely to get more bids.”
When Goza began working with the annual event, he felt it could be bigger and better and bring in more funds to help fill the gap that the school has between the tuition paid by the families of students and the actual cost of running the school.
“They used to sort of keep the number of donations to a maximum amount of about 100 things,” Goza explains, “But now we ask that everybody donate what they think would be interesting to our guests, and Melissa can combine a few similar items to make the auction item even more appealing.” This has resulted in the auction now hauling in twice as much money as it had in the years before Goza and his parent committee became involved.
Restaurant gift certificates, hand knitted items, jewelry, new appliances and sports items and tickets to sporting events are all welcome and can be dropped off at St. Elizabeth’s located at 4019 south Hampton Road, Dallas.
Oak Cliff businesses are encouraged to donate to the school’s auction to win new customers. Gift certificates for local services such as personal training or window washing are welcome.
This year’s auction has a Fiesta them, and is moving from the downtown site where it’s been sold out at the past two years to the Salon Las Americas located at 1004 Fort Worth Avenue in Oak Cliff, nearer to the school and easier for student families to get to.
“The date is May 5th—Cinco de Mayo—so the Fiesta theme was pretty much a slam dunk,” Goza says with a laugh. “Plus it’ll be more colorful, more casual dress, and more of our community can fit in the space. It’s a win-win for everyone!”
Goza may be graduating on to high school with is daughter, but says he’ll be back to support next year’s Annual Silent Auction. “It’s such a blast,” he says, “I enjoy it so much. And the school is so terrific. I’ll be back for years to come.”
St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Church and School is located at 4019 South Hampton Road, Dallas, TX 75224 next door to the Walgreens on the corner of Loop 12 Ledbetter and Hampton. The school offers grades pre-k 3 through 8th grade. For more information see the school’s website: http://saintspride.com/
The public is invited to come tour the school and meet the exceptional faculty and staff. For more information contact Sandy Walkley swalkley@saintspride.com
(214) 331-5139 x21
Or Carolyn Campos, Business Manager, ccampos@saintspride.com
(214) 331-5139 x23
Judy Porter writes about local heroes and businesses. Contact her at judy-porter@sbcglobal.net