Cellarbration event helps Big Bend students foot bill for college
Jim Hamm, of Moses Lake, pours a selection for Nelly McLauchan, of Moses Lake, during Cellarbration Saturday. Cellarbration is Big Bend Community College's fundraiser for student scholarships.
MOSES LAKE - Final totals weren't available at press time, but a sold out Cellarbration raised more than $50,000 for scholarships at Big Bend Community College Saturday.
Cellarbration pairs wine and gourmet food for dinner, along with a silent and live auction. It's the most important fundraising event of the year for the BBCC Foundation, and all the money raised goes to the scholarship fund maintained by the foundation.
Items ranged from wine to jewelry in the silent auction, and from Gonzaga basketball tickets to a week in an Hawaii condo in the live auction. It all goes to a good cause, participants said.
John Allen, of Spokane, owns a wine shop and has helped pick the wines to accompany dinner since Cellarbration started. The money raised goes to the college's endowment for its continuing scholarships, and to a fund to help students facing financial emergencies, he said.
It's an important cause, Allen said. "There's hardly a career now that doesn't require some education after high school," he said.
Alan White, of Moses Lake, agreed. "Education gives people a choice," he said.