Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Valerie Millar, 70, and her son, Keith, 38, have been on the board of directors for the Silicon Valley Charity Ball for the past several years, doing the technical and artistic planning for each Ball's theme. Past Ball's held at the McEnery Convention Center, have been transformed into ancient Egypt, Italy, and this year's Space theme.
Family Affair
Mother and son work together to plan the Silicon Valley Charity Ball
By Amy Jenkins
For Valerie and Keith Millar, the chance to volunteer for the Silicon Valley Charity Ball is not only an opportunity to help others, it also provides a chance to spend some quality mother-son time together.
This is the eighth year that Keith, 38, has volunteered his time to transform the barren McEnery Convention Center into a lively atmosphere for the ball. Keith, a Cupertino resident who works as a manager of Internet security at Hewlett-Packard, recruited his mother several years ago because of her art background.
In the past the pair has built a 30-foot pyramid, a mini skyscraper and a reproduction of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, to coincide with the ball's theme and to greet guests as they enter for the ball.
"The joy of doing it is that it's a different theme every time," says Valerie, 70, a Sunnyvale resident who handles the fine art designs on the props. "We get to play with a 120-foot-by-120-foot-by-90-foot-high room. It's such a kick."
This year Keith and Valerie are on the board of directors and are responsible for decorating the center in a space scene for the event on April 20, titled "Fly Me to the Stars." After lots of brainstorming with other volunteers, they decided to create a space satellite for the entrance and a balcony for the cocktail party room that "overlooks the universe," Keith says.
The pair created 8- and 15-foot planets for the dining room, a lunar walker vehicle for the food area, and 3-D human sculptures (dressed in silver Lycra) that will dance. The color scheme this year is blue, gold and silver.
Volunteering for the ball is a real time commitment. During the summer, the board members review hundreds of applications from nonprofits that are hoping to receive grant money. Thirty-nine organizations were selected this year, all of which help children, families and senior citizens.
"There is a real need, especially now ,in the valley," Valerie says. "It is wonderful that money was given to New York but there are battered women and poor kids here. They want such simple things and we're so affluent we don't even think about it. It boils down to the individual lives that the ball benefits."
In the past 15 years the ball has raised $10 million for more than 175 nonprofit agencies. Before Keith became a volunteer, he says he was "blown away" that a group of 30 volunteers were able to raise millions of dollars. He considered using his building skills to fix up shelters, but he found the ball to be more organized than other volunteer organizations he considered joining, he says.
The real "bubble popper" for Keith was when he heard that all one child wanted to do was visit the beach. "[He was a] 15-year-old boy [who] only lived 22 miles away from Santa Cruz and didn't have a way to get to the beach," he says.
Construction for the ball starts in November, and the pair works weekends and nights. In addition to work, Keith is busy with his family--he has a newborn daughter and an 18-month-old--and plays on basketball and volleyball teams.
Valerie retired in 1995 from a job in the marketing department of a software company, but she is not new to volunteering. She says she helped in the library and the career center at her two children's schools, and volunteers with the Digital Clubhouse in Sunnyvale.
Along with help from other volunteers, the two spend 30 hours setting up the center and 12 hours tearing it down. Valerie says since the nonprofits are receiving grant money, they must volunteer time to help the ball. Some help with its dismantling.
This year the ball includes cocktails, hors d'oeuvres, and performances by Beach Blanket Babylon and Bill Hopkins Rock'n Orchestra. The Master of Ceremonies is NBC3 news anchor team Terilyn Joe and Allen Denton. For reservations and information about the Silicon Valley Charity Ball, call 408.260.0594 or email salesinfo@svcb.org.
Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
