Schools

Crab Feed Preparations Underway for Feb. 11

PTAs, Kiwanis Club, and educational endowment join for the seventh annual benefit for schools.

About 1,400 pounds of dungeness crab are set to arrive in Milpitas in time for the seventh-annual Milpitas Union School District Crab Feed on Feb. 11.

While the seafood is the main attraction, volunteers behind the scenes have planned a live auction, silent auction, dessert auction and raffle to reach their fundraising goals of $50,000.

Aside from the crab, banquet hall and entertainment, everything else—the hors d'oeuvres, pasta, desserts, prizes, printing and labor—are donated. 

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New this year is a "crab-free" zone where vegetarians can sit in an area without seeing the disembodied crustacean.

While the event takes place at the , child care will be available for ages 3-12 next door at the , in which children can play in a bouncy house, do arts and crafts and see a movie. The cost is $20 per child.

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For entertainment, organizers booked Manuel Romero, a local singer who made it to the semifinals of America's Got Talent during its second season.

For the live auction, Superintendent Karl Black will donate one of his paintings. Curtner Elementary Principal Todd Gaviglio will prepare and host a gourmet vegetarian dinner for eight. And Milpitas High will donate 15 front row seats for its graduation ceremony.

The 120 gift baskets for the silent auction came from the PTAs, where each school was assigned a list of businesses to ask for prizes, said Julie McMullen, president of the Milpitas Unified Council of PTAs

Among the items include wine baskets, autographed jerseys from professional sports players and a weekend stay at the . (see list below)

Attendees will have an opportunity to buy a $10 key for treasure chest filled with dozens of gift certificates, including a one-night lodging at Sorenson's Resort in the High Sierra, said McMullen. There are about 200 keys, but only one works.

Dessert isn't provided at the crab feed, but it is auctioned. About 20 cakes, cheesecakes, pies and more will be available for bidding.

The guests then bring them back to the table and eat them, said McMullen.

Now, attendees just need to buy their tickets.

"We're usually sold out by now," said Marsha Grilli, president of the school board. At $50 a ticket, slightly higher than in the past, sales have been a little slower this year. 

Organizers say they hope to sell out and close ticket sales early next week.

"The big thing is that all the money raised is going to go to kids," said Robert Jung, CEO and president of the Milpitas Community Educational Endowment.

The endowment, which will receive 15 percent or a cap of $7,500, will reinvest the money.

, in charge of the drink bar, managing student servers, set up and clean up, will use its share of the proceeds for a back-to-school clothing drive. Each year, Kiwanis volunteers take shopping 100 students whose families who would otherwise have a hard time affording back-to-school clothes.

"Our portion will mainly be to fund Cares for Kids in the summer," said Mike Mendizabal. He said the program gives students from the district's elementary schools gift certificates of $100 to spend on clothes. Kiwanis volunteers take them shopping in the department store using information from a form that parents fill out.

About 70 percent of the proceeds will be given to the PTAs in the school district.

During one of the more profitable crab feeds, Grilli remembers the proceeds were $65,000. But the last one brought in only $40,000, she said.

The school district did not have the crab feed last year, because the focus was on getting Measure B passed by voters. The $84 parcel tax is expected to bring in an estimated $1.3 million to the school district. 

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The silent auction items include:

  • Symphony Silicon Valley and San Francisco Symphony tickets
  • Autographed 49ers jerseys by Michael Crabtree and Nate Clemens
  • Summitpointe Golf packages 
  • "CSI party" for kids at the Milpitas Police Department
  • Milpitas Fire Department tour of a station and dinner
  • Lunch with the principals of Russell and Rancho middle schools
  • Dinner with Mike and Nancy Mendizabal
  • Baseball autographed by hall-of-famer Dennis Eckersley
  • Sharks hockey puck autographed by Jamie McGinn 
  • Wine baskets with bottles from Big Dog Winery and Guglielmo Winery 
  • Weekend lodging at the Beverly Hotel
  • In and Out gift baskets with coupon books
  • Admissions to local museums
  •  

    Cash, checks and credit cards will be accepted at the crab feed.

    For tickets, visit crabfeed4musd.com.


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