Photograph courtesy of Silicon Valley Charity Ball Foundation
Saratoga Mayor Nick Streit (right), longtime Silicon Valley Charity Ball treasurer, mingles at last year's event with Joyce Hunter, the ball's administrative director.
Celebrants will play among the stars at Silicon Valley Charity Ball
By Shari Kaplan
As if being a certified public accountant and the current mayor of Saratoga doesn't keep him busy enough, Nick Streit has also been involved in the Silicon Valley Charity Ball since its inception 16 years ago, with all but the event's first two years spent as treasurer of the board of directors.
While gearing up for the tax-time crunch, Streit is also gearing up for April 20, the date for this year's ball. Its title for 2002 is "Fly Me to the Stars," with a theme highlighting the mystery of outer space and the futuristic spirit of the 21st century. The event takes place at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center, 150 W. San Carlos St. in San Jose.
The Ball is a fundraiser by the Silicon Valley Charity Ball Foundation, a nonprofit organization formed by a group of friends and Silicon Valley businesspeople in early 1986. The foundation's mission is to support other nonprofits that benefit children, families and senior citizens. Over the past 15 years, the foundation has awarded more than $10 million to 175 organizations.
Streit says the foundation originally formed to make high-tech companies and successful businessmen and women aware that many deserving nonprofits needed help meeting their funding goals, usually because the nonprofits are too small or otherwise not able to qualify for help from large charitable benefactors like the United Way.
It's been onward and upward ever since.
"The ball is a chance to raise money for a lot of charities that might get overlooked otherwise. They might need only $500 to $5,000 to make all the difference," Streit says. "It's always my greatest pleasure to write and give away all these checks each year. You can see the results instantly, because we're giving specific grants to specific organizations."
"There's plenty of need in this valley; we usually get 100 to 150 applications each year," says Streit, adding that, following a thorough review process, approximately 30 to 60 applications are approved yearly.
"The most rewarding thing is seeing the effects on the people whose charities we support," adds Streit, who says ball grants go toward funding items that will help the organizations in long-term fashion. Examples include vans, computers, furniture, refrigerators, playground equipment, pools or even buildings themselves, depending upon each charity and its unique needs.
"Fly Me to the Stars" begins at 6 p.m. for cocktails, hors d'oeuvres and mingling, with dinner served at 8 p.m. Masters of ceremonies for the event are NBC3 news anchors Terilyn Joe and Allen Denton, with music by the Bill Hopkins Rock'n Orchestra. The headline entertainment--customized for the ball--is a performance by the cast of the hit musical Beach Blanket Babylon. Rounding out the evening are casino games, a silent auction and appearances by surprise guests.
Tickets to the Silicon Valley Charity Ball are $300 per person. Group tables can also be purchased at higher prices. For more information, call 408.260.0594 or visit www.svcb.org on the Internet.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
