An Evening with John Wood
October 2011
Four Hands Home
Our first ever event with John Wood in Austin has helped our group hit the tipping point. More than doubling our revenues from last year, we raised over $70,000 in one night! Thanks to many generous sponsors, over 40 fabulous silent auction items, and a clever way to track our progress toward building a school and providing girls with scholarships, we more than beat our expectations for the night and year. (This amount may be adjusted as some late donations are still being collected.)
Bollywood Nights
September 2011
Clay Pit
Bollywood Nights keeps getting better and better! This year we had a band, multiple dance performances, henna, a big silent auction, delicious food, and a Bollywood dance lesson for all to round out the night. We raised $4,500, topping our past two years!
Room to Rock
August 2011
Peckerheads
Our second annual music showcase gained a prime spot in central downtown on a Friday. We had about 100 attendees, held a raffle for a guitar and received a dollar per beer from the host bar. We raised enough from ticket sales, raffle tickets and the bar tab donation to provide 1,800 books to children!
Celebrate Inspiring Women
May 2011
Thanh Nhi, Vietnamese Restaurant
We had a great turnout to our third annual Mother's Day-themed event. 40 people, which almost reached the capacity of 50! Everyone enjoyed Sherrie's recaps on her trips to visit Girls' Education scholars in India and Vietnam and the night's ticket sales and silent auction proceeds raised enough to send 20 girls to school for a year!
Beers for Books
April 2011
Dolce Vita
Our second Beers for Books at Dolce Vita was another huge success. Thanks to our fabulous raffle item donors and Dolce Vita's percentage of all food and drink purchases, we were able to raise enough to provide 670 books to children in the developing world!
Beers for Books
Halloween 2010
Lavaca Street Bar
Our second Halloween-themed Beers for Books raised $900 through raffle ticket sales and, of course, beer. There were some pretty stellar costumes as well.
Bollywood Nights
August 2010
Clay Pit
This was our favorite event to date. The entire event exceeded our expectations. We had a huge crowd, great food, henna, giveaways, and fun dances, including a finale with everyone joining in. We raised $3,500 for programs in India. The bar has been set for 2011!
Room to Rock
August 2010
Momo's Club, Downtown Austin
Room to Rock was our first annual music showcase, combining Austin's love of live music and our numerous volunteers' and supporters' love of Room to Read. We had 130 people show up, 4 live bands (with tons of energy), and through ticket sales, a silent auction guitar, and raffle sales, we raised enough for either 2,000 books or 8 years of girls' education.
Celebrate Inspiring Women
May 2010
Thanh Nhi, Vietnamese Restaurant
Our second annual Mother's Day-themed event was filled with fun people, great silent auction items, and tasty food. (Not to mention handmade cake pops!) We raised enough funds to send 20 girls to school for a year.
Beers for Books
April 2010
Dolce Vita
Although a smaller venue than Lavaca Street Bar we still managed to pack about 70 people in throughout the night. Thanks to our fabulous raffle prizes and a donation of all profits from Dolce Vita we raised enough money for 625 books!
Beers for Books
Halloween 2009
Lavaca Street Bar
We hosted our very first “Beers for Books” fundraiser at Lavaca Street Bar on Friday, October 30th. We had a costume contest with a guy and gal winner and also a raffle for a football signed by UT head football coach, Mack Brown. The bar donated one dollar from each beer sold to Room to Read to purchase a Local Language Publishing book. We raised enough money through beer sales, raffle tickets, and donations to buy over 1200 books!
Indian Nights
October 2009
Clay Pit, Indian Restaurant
Our biggest event to date was themed “Indian Nights” with a focus on raising money for programs in India. Clay Pit hosted and supplied fabulous appetizers and desserts. The restaurant also donated proceeds from the cash bar. A local Indian folk musician started off the night with some great music and two Indian dance groups performed as well. The event was a blast and we raised enough to build a library in India.
Celebrate Inspiring Women
May 2009
Thanh Nhi, Vietnamese Restaurant
The restaurant was packed for our first country-themed event of the year. We put together an evening dedicated to celebrating the empowering women in all of our lives. Expanding on Mother's Day, we turned May into "Inspiring Women's Month." All funds raised went to girls' scholarships in Vietnam. A generous donor to Room to Read matched all donations given in May, so the funds we raised were doubled. We encouraged all attendees to give a donation in honor of the inspirational women in their lives and we provided beautiful donation cards they could personalize for them. In the end we were able to provide 26 girls with a scholarship for a year!
Hot Mama's Kickoff
May 2008
Hot Mama's Espresso