Rotary welcomes MaryBeth Garrison for Cheers to Charity presentation

Provided.

To thank MaryBeth Garrison for making the Cheers to Charity presentation at the Rotary meeting, Past President Linda Carhart presented her with a certificate and $100 was donated to the Rotary Foundation in her honor.

At the April 25 meeting of the Tehachapi Rotary Club, MaryBeth Garrison gave an interesting and inspiring presentation on the history of Cheers to Charity. Cheers to Charity, whose motto is "Eat, Drink, and Help Change Your World," began in 2014 in the parking lot of Veritas Tapas & Wine Bar, and the event continues to grow in size and popularity each year.

Cheers to Charity is held second weekend of August, and they are celebrating 2024 with a theme of "A Decade of Doing Good." Their mission has always been to host a fun fundraiser which raises money for local nonprofits. So far, 32 different nonprofits have benefitted from their efforts. In the past 10 years, the event has raised over $375,000, all of which has stayed in the Tehachapi community to benefit the work of various nonprofit organizations. The Tehachapi Rotary Club has been a partner in the event for 6 years, organizing and managing the silent auction and wine pull activities. In the past 6 years, those two activities alone have generated almost $35,000.

MaryBeth shared that she conceived of the idea for a local fundraiser due to her background working in television for 20 years. In her job, she went to many fundraisers, and she was able to experience many different events. She soon noticed that they all had one thing in common; they all had the right heart and intentions. She said that she learned a lot, especially that people are generous when they are having a good time and attending with people they enjoy. They developed the Cheers to Charity concept out of this heart of mind and she envisioned an event that people would enjoy and remember.

In the first year, Cheers to Charity sold 148 tickets, raised $15,000, and a small group of nonprofits helped make the event a success. After 2 years, the event was outgrowing the Veritas parking lot, and moved to Aviator Park by the Tehachapi Municipal Airport. The event has continued to grow, and approximately 800 tickets were sold in 2023. The event now has many food vendors, many wineries and breweries sampling, a wonderful booth serving "spirit free" drink options, a coffee bar, dessert bar, a casino corner, a DJ and dance floor. The venue is beautiful when the sun goes down with the addition of spectacular lighting.

Many nonprofits help with the logistics of the event, including set up, parking and cleaning up. As a result, Cheers to Charity has given sizable donations to Tehachapi Mountain Search and Rescue, CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) and the Tehachapi VALLEY WRESTLING CLUB, to thank them for their help with the event.

Cheers to Charity will be held on Saturday, Aug. 10 and tickets are already on sale. Their goal this year is to sell 1,000 tickets, and about 270 have already been sold. In addition, Cheers to Charity seeks sponsors to assist with many of the initial costs involved in putting on the event, which is rather significant. This year's event will see an expanded dance floor and Light Up the Night, which will add more fun to the dancing.

The Rotary Club of Tehachapi is a volunteer service organization with the motto, "Service Above Self." The Club meets at Kelcy's Restaurant on Thursdays at noon. For more information about Rotary Club, you can visit their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/RotaryClubofTehachapi/.