Fundraiser at Albert Leonard Nets $8,000

Parents looking for a night away from the kids took advantage of the Albert Leonard Middle School PTA’s Second Annual Parent’s Night Out with Silent Auction Wednesday.

The event brought many local businesses to the school’s cafeteria where more than 150 people feasted on a variety of foods from local restaurants and shops, while bidding on 80 silent auction items and enjoying live music and dancing.

Angela Taylor, who headed the event, said the fundraiser brought in over $8,500.

She said that it takes a large number of people to make the evening a success.

“I like to call it ‘the Little Fundraiser That Could,’ ” Taylor said.

A mother of two children at the school, she said the district has everything you want: “good teachers, good programs and safety.”

Taylor added that even with 12,000 students the district still has a down home feeling. She said the event raised about $5,000 the first year, so it is growing quickly, with local businesses now contacting the PTA to find out how to join in.

The silent auction this year net some $7,500 itself with three premium parking spaces on graduation day going for between $125 and $150 each. The Browne family won several of the most coveted auction items including “Principal for the day!”and the WPIX “Friday Forecaster” TV spot, both for their sixth-grade daughter, Amanda.

Other intriguing auction items included lunch for a student with Mayor Noam Bramson, which was won by the Kremins family. Sixth-grader Alec Kremins will be dining with the mayor.

Every item was donated to the event, so the entire evening’s proceeds will be used by the PTA for middle-school programs, grants and more to benefit the students.

International aromas filled the cafeteria as participants listened to live music from parent Andres Frias, performing Latin jazz. New Beginnings Performing Arts Studio gave a wonderful sample of what happens at their studio with everything from stilt walk dancing to African drumming and dancers.

The food matched a variety of taste buds coming from local establishments that included , , , , , Edible Arrangements, , , , , and ShopRite.

Candidia Canfield of Dinner in Hand said that she likes to support community events. She explained that she created her home-cooking delivery business four years ago to give busy families the chance to be at a family table more often. She added that a large number of her customers are also senior citizens.

Martine Cadet from the smoothie company Robeks said that one of the reasons she chose Robeks was that most of the franchises are very community focused. “It is really fulfilling to be a neighborhood store,” Cadet said. “We don’t have enough healthy options in the community. The kids should have more options within walking distance.”

Demonstrations were offered by a number of vendors including , the , , and Steiner Sports Marketing.

Cristina Cerone Photography photographed the event pro bono and shared her pictures with Patch. 

Michelle Schwartz, a mother of four, including one at the middle school, said it was a great event.

“I’m happy to come support the school and the town,” she said.