Party for a Cause Brings Rotary, Chinese Club Together

The success of the inaugural Christmas Party for a Cause last week will hopefully pave the way for an annual event courtesy of both Rotary Club of San Marino and Chinese Club of San Marino.
The party, held recently at the San Marino Center, brought the two clubs together in a collaborative effort to celebrate the holidays together while also raising funds for an upcoming drive to benefit the organization Rise Against Hunger.
“It was a fabulous event,” said Rotary President Denise Wadsworth in an email. “We all enjoyed a casual, fun setting with a festive buffet, generous desserts and a variety of beverages.”
The party included tunes from pianist Marc Bosserman, a photo booth courtesy of Tony Chou and an ugly sweater competition. Money from party tickets, a live auction and raffle tickets was raised for a spring event in which food will be packaged for families in need for Rise Against Hunger.
“It was a great party,” said Chinese Club President John Chou. “I’m very glad to see the community come together for a holiday celebration while at the same time to help out a very worthy cause. It was a great opportunity for the community to come together and enjoy each other’s company.”
Wadsworth said she believes this party will have generated enough money to package 25,000 meals.
“Going in we had already met 75% of our goal, and I received a last-minute donation of a hand-crafted 17-inch tall presentation teapot that we used for a live auction that ultimately raised an additional $2,000, in addition to extra raffle tickets sold at the event for our 20 raffle prizes,” she said.
Wadsworth and John Chou extended special thanks to event planners Johnson Shyong, Nancy Lee, Grace Yang, Michelle Cox and Tony Chou.