The Lasallian
By: Miles Gavigan
St. Joe’s is a school that has built the reputation of having very supportive alumni. One way that the school gathers alumni students from different generations is by throwing a large fundraiser every year, The Lasallian, which raises money for academic scholarships. St Joe’s teams up with several vendors of different businesses and alumni that own businesses and finds new and interesting items to auction off in order to generate interest. The Lasallian event also has a student speaker, who talks about their life story, and acts as a voice for the student body.
The Lasallian is an event that is open to all alumni from St. Joe’s, and occurs on March 23rd. According to Mrs. Herud, one of the organizers of the Lasallian, “It is SJCI’s largest fundraiser, and hosts over five hundred people.” Mrs. Herud goes on to say that, “The event is forty years old.” It is clear that this event is now a known source of gathering in the St. Joe’s community, and has brought all alumni from different classes together.
Since the Lasallian is so large, it produces large profits. Mrs. Herud said, “The goal is to raise as much money as possible to provide as many scholarships” Mrs. Herud goes on to say that “the critical funds raised go to financial reports and academic scholarships.” The money produced from the event goes to a cause that helps kids that cannot afford a good education, and helps give them their academic needs.
A large amount of time and care must go into planning an event like the Lasallian. When asked about planning, another Lasallian organizer, Ms. Wright commented that “A key role was to find student volunteers. From my position I had to make sure that everyone had what they needed. It was important to make sure everyone was having a good time.” The students at St. Joe’s play a big role in making the Lasallian happen, therefore it is necessary that their needs are met. According to Mrs. Herud, “The planning starts with basics. We secure lenders early and create processes and systems to stay organized. We continue to work with investors and update them on plans. The closer we get to the Lasallian it's all about setting up. We use volunteers to help with chairs and tables.” The Lasallian organizers make their connections quickly so that they can save time for the set up for the event.
Another large factor in preparation for the event was food.“We've been working with Oliver’s for years. They prepare dinner in their own kitchen and use our kitchen for prep. We sat down with them to help with the menu. Oliver’s helps relay headcount. The main component is bringing equipment to help Oliver’s do their job. We have students working alongside Oliver’s.” The organizers at St. Joe’s have to team up with different restaurants as well as offer resources in order to make the planning process go as smoothly as possible.
Other than food and finding volunteers, the Lasallian organizers had to find a way to gain alumni’s interest to come. Ms. Wright states,“We came up with the idea of using One Slice, a website where you can try different slices from different pizzerias. We ended up bringing in 200 people that way.” People love trying new things, so it is a smart move to use a website that gives people a chance to taste test different styles of pizza. Ms. Shelby adds to the marketing strategy and states,“We have gift gathering parties. We would take gifts and put them on giftsmart, we use to run auctions.” Ms. Herud also mentions, “I work with Kim Gilbert and Susie Hurley. Help figure out current trends for auctioning.” In order to gain attention towards an auction, the Lasallian had to find items that resonated with potential buyers.
In order to fit the different prizes as well as check people into the school, the Lasallian organizers had to do a little bit of adjusting. “We turn the athletic and fine arts center into a full scale event center. We cut back on labor costs that way.” When asked about prizes, Ms. Herud mentioned, “Some of our biggest items were an electric fireplace, SJCI cornhole, SJCI recliner, and a life sized buffalo.” Though these were popular, there were other prizes that drew more attention. “For live auction, the Costa Rican trip tickets and the Yankees legends club experience were the most popular. For the silent auction, the Pelican golf club experience was the most popular item.” Though some of these items are relatively simplistic, they have part of an alumni’s past that reminds them of the school that they had come from. The tickets to different events and vacations give the alumni a one time chance to see something new and exciting.
When asked about how this Lasallian event turned out compared to other Lasallians, Ms. Wright mentioned,“This is our first Lasallian. We got thrown into it but it was fun planning it.” It is nice to see that the planners for the Lasallian are positive about how the event turned out, and it will be interesting to see how future Lasallians turn out to be. When asked about what the best part of the Lasallian was, both planners had a different response. Ms. Herud said, “The second everyone takes their seat. Sense of relaxation.” Ms. Wright had stated, “Special appeal/student speaker. It was really awesome to work with Faustin and help him tell his story. Getting to know him has been incredible.”
One of the most significant parts of the Lasallian is the student speaker. The speaker for this Lasallian was Faustin Ushindi. When asked about what it was like getting ready for the Lasallian, Ushindi had mentioned, “Two weeks prior it was stressful. I had to prepare a speech about my story coming from the Congo to America to Joe’s, and how I found hockey. I was getting fitted for a tuxedo, and I was excited.” Ushindi was also asked what made him the most nervous. “What stressed me the most was that my brothers were going to be there. There were also a lot of people there. But I was happy that my brothers and my teammates were there.” It is good to hear that Ushindi felt so supported by his family and his friends at Joe’s. When asked about what the goal of his speech was, Ushindi stated, “To elaborate on my life story and how the scholarship money helps kids like me.” Ushindi also mentioned that, “Getting up on stage and looking over the crowd was exciting.” Faustin Ushindi clearly had a good time being a part of the Lasallian and showed that he was a very charismatic student speaker.