Starlight Gala Volunteer Opportunities

 

The following Starlight Gala committees need your energy and enthusiasm to help make this year’s Gala a tremendous success! Whether you have two hours or 20 hours to give, we have a committee that needs your help. Let us know your top three choices and we’ll do our best to give you your top pick.  

Fashion Show Committee
Chairs:  Valerie Villarreal (fashionshowacs@yahoo.com)

This committee is in need of energetic fashion enthusiasts to help plan and host the Starlight Gala’s Fashion Show in February 2008.  Responsibilities include:  recruiting and reviewing local boutiques to underwrite the event, soliciting vendor donations for food and wine, attending to event logistics and hosting the event.  No experience necessary, but candidates must have a passion for fashion and a desire to fight the battle against cancer.

In Kind Gifts Committee – Silent Auction/Mystery Gift Box/Raffle
Chair:  Christine Bailey (aggie_bailey@yahoo.com)

If you are looking to get to know your community, then this is the committee for you.  You will have the opportunity to use your Houston area connections to find donors for the raffle, silent auction, mystery gift boxes and gaming prizes. The silent auction is a key element of the night of fun, and we want your help making it the best auction ever.  You will be responsible for securing donations for items from local companies, restaurants and stores to auction off the night of the event.  Do you love surprises and seeing the looks on people’s faces when they open a great gift?  This committee is also in charge of Mystery Gift Boxes.  The surprise is that guests don’t know what they are buying until they open it! Responsibilities include: soliciting donations for the boxes, assembling and wrapping the boxes and selling them the night of gala.  Each box sells for $100 and there is at least, if not more than $100 worth of items in the box.  If you are good at asking for things and getting what you ask for, then In-Kind wants YOU!

Entertainment and Game Committee
Chairs: Christina Garza (chrisgarza23@yahoo.com) & Luis Partida (lpartida@deloitte.com)

Are you hip to the Texas music scene? Do you enjoy playing games on chance?  If so, this is the perfect committee for you. Responsibilities include scouting and hiring musical entertainment, as well as providing various games (horseshoes, etc.) during Gala. Join the fun and excitement!

Decorations Committee                   
Chairs:  Jennifer Simone (simone36342@yahoo.com) & Victoria Vela (victoria.vela@banksterling.com)

Explore your creative side with the Decorations Committee! This committee is responsible for incorporating the theme of the Gala throughout the site facility. Committee duties include creating or purchasing table centerpieces, flowers, linens, chair covers and other decorative items. If you want to capture and deliver the essence of the Gala, join the Decorations Committee!

Donor & Guest Appreciation
Chairs:  Kerry Sheppard (kerry@westerntalk.com)

This committee is responsible for providing donors with imaginative awards and providing donors and guests with goody-bags, t-shirts, etc.  Will be responsible for coordinating with the Underwriting Committee to secure items for the goody bags.  Will design the t-shirts to be given to all guests and will also design and purchase awards for donors.  This committee will also stuff the goody bags prior to the event.  Also, will be responsible for helium balloons used to indicate between levels of donors.  All donors and guests want to feel special and this is a great way to show them that we care about their support!

Honor & Memorial Committee
Chair: Courtney Doutel (courtney.doutel@ajg.com)

This committee’s goal is to honor and remember our friends and loved ones, who have fought, are still fighting or who have lost their battle to cancer. Donors have the opportunity to purchase a Starlight or Starbright.  Starlights are memorials that honor loved ones on the night of the gala and Starbrights are quarter page ads in the Gala program. Starbrights allow you to create a personalized message to honor your loved ones.

Restricted Gifts Committee
Chair:  Allison Bruce (alli.bruce@gmail.com)

This committee will be responsible for contacting untapped or “more interested in causes than parties” donors who would like to have their donation restricted to a certain ACS program/project.  They will also be the ones to determine which program/project we will commit our restricted gifts to this year.  For example, last year we chose college scholarships for children who are cancer survivors.  If you have a great ability to sell, this committee needs your help!

Site Committee
Chairs:  Traci Clay (traciclay@gmail.com) & Carla Crowe (carlacrowe@hotmail.com)

Responsible for connecting with all committees and vendors to coordinate the following:

Site Planning: create site plan to scale focusing on flow of event and highlighting areas where there are fund-raising opportunities.

Security: provide security for all appropriate areas and times that may include set-up, auction, banks, parking, and breakdown.

Coordinate and supervise all on-site activities during set-up.

“After Gala:” provide work force for clean up of the site if required to restore the site to usable form for the owners.

Meet with the owners/managers of the site to determine any restrictions, fees, logistical constraints, legal and insurance matters.

Coordinate transportation and logistics

Determine food and beverage needs for Gala and VIP reception & negotiate contracts

Underwriting & Sponsorship/Table Sales Committee
Chairs:  Chris Adams (christopheradams323@hotmail.com)

There are at least 125,000 reasons to volunteer for this committee - one for every dollar we will raise for the fight against cancer. This committee is responsible for the soliciting and securing of cash to underwrite specific expenses of the gala and to sell tables. Those companies that underwrite will have their logos advertised, so it’s of great benefit to them!  We are in need of volunteers that can help us contact local companies and invite them to underwrite or sponsor this year’s event.  Much of our success depends on working local contacts and relationships, so if you have a rolodex of friends, family or business contacts and you don’t mind asking for a donation, then your home is with this committee.    

Volunteer Recruitment/Social Committee
Chair: Alli McLean (alli_mclean@yahoo.com)

This committee is responsible for securing all gala volunteers and making sure they stay informed about all happenings.  We are also looking for a few people to help organize some social events as well as community outreach events this year, such as hospital visits or assisting at other local cancer society events. This committee is also responsible for recruiting and overseeing all volunteers on the night of the event.

Public Relations Committee
Chairs:  Pamela Parker (parkerp6673@yahoo.com)

This committee is in need of public relations professionals to provide image and awareness of the event/gala in the public and private sector of the community.  The date, time, theme, location, cause benefiting, and uniqueness should be made known to the community as early as possible.  Communicate with both electronic and print media.  Handle press releases in a timely manner to newspapers and magazines; distribute posters to involved businesses for display, and provide flyers to banks/utilities for enclosure statements.  

Ticket Sales & Registration Committee
Chair:  Graham Lowrey (starlightgalatickets@yahoo.com)

This committee will be responsible for keeping up with ticket sales and getting all registration materials together before the event.  Will work closely with Underwriting, Sponsorship and In-Kind Gifts committees to determine how many tickets donors will receive and getting them added to the list of attendees.  Will also need to work the registration table at beginning of event. 

Printing Chair
Chair:  Lori Sebastian (hautechakalaka@gmail.com)

The printing chair executes the designs of the committee to produce stationery, thank you notes, posters, invitations, programs, tickets, forms and anything else that needs to be printed.  Responsibilities are to negotiate and sub-contact printer vendors and work with sub-committee chairs to develop a printing timeline that facilitates the schedule of all committee. Work with all committees to ensure that all appropriate in-kind donors, sponsors and underwriters have been given the appropriate exposure and that we have fulfilled our commitments to them.  Proofread all printed materials.

Design Chair
Chair:  Silvestre Ontiveros (multigraphics@bosse.com)

The design chair creates the design that goes with the current gala theme and designs the stationery, thank you notes, posters, invitations, programs, tickets, forms and anything else that needs to be printed. 

Treasurer
Andy Russ (russ.andy@heb.com)

Oversees the budget of the event and ensures that all committees report their expenses and adhere to all policies.  Report the balance during committee meetings verbally and in writing.  Provide accurate records at the conclusion of the event to show income, expenditures and budget amendments.  Responsible for collecting money from all areas night of event.  

ATTENTION:
ALL VOLUNTEERS are responsible for an annual membership fee with the American Cancer Society of $20. Also, all volunteers should try to sell two individual tickets or one couple’s tickets for the Gala to a non-ACS Starlight Gala volunteer and one Honor and Memorial Starlight or Starbright.

Thank you for your help and for joining the fight against cancer! 

Any Questions?
Please contact either the individual committee chairs or the event chairs.