Pictured left to right: Sheila Cox and Bruce Berman from the GWC Foundation, Nate Shaver from HB Jeep, and Dave Garofalo representing the HB Automotive Dealers Association.
The 2020 Golden West College Foundation Gala may have been cancelled this past April due to the coronavirus, but it did not take away from the excitement of the Opportunity Car Drawing on Monday, June 29, as Daphna Zago was presented with her new Jeep Renegade at Huntington Beach Jeep.
For the third consecutive year, Mr. Pete Shaver, owner of Huntington Beach Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram, generously donated a vehicle to help the Golden West College Foundation raise money through an opportunity drawing, traditionally held at their annual Gala.
Delayed until June, and wearing masks instead of formal attire, representatives from the GWC Foundation, HB Jeep, and the HB Auto Dealers Association drew the winning ticket out of a ceremonial tumbler and called Daphna’s phone number to let her know that she had won. But the call went to voicemail.
Daphna is a local resident of Huntington Beach, and a Golden West College alumna with a daughter that is currently attending GWC. When she heard the message, she nearly erased it, thinking it was from a telemarketer. Then, “My daughter reminded me that I had entered this raffle,” she explained. “I actually did it just to support the school,” so she hadn’t considered that she could win. But when the realization took hold, she said, “I started screaming!”
The Golden West College Foundation holds its annual Gala each spring to raise unrestricted funds to help support students, departments, and programs at Golden West College as needs are identified. This spring the Foundation awarded 160 GWC students with one-time COVID-19 Emergency Grants to be used for food, rent, or other expenses caused by unemployment. The sale of these opportunity tickets, which began the previous fall, helped fund this campaign.
