CRAEF distributes $80,000 in scholarships
CRAEF recently hosted two luncheons to celebrate and award scholarships to the 2008 CRAEF scholarship winners. Scholarship recipients, parents, teachers and CRAEF supporters attended this successful and impactful event.
Although CRAEF has previously hosted large annual events to award scholarships, the 2008 event was a unique one. This year the CRAEF scholarship committee decided to bring the celebration to the students with two separate luncheons, one in northern California and another in southern California. Additionally, the date was moved up from August to July in order to accommodate school schedules. These changes resulted in a drastic increase in student attendance; while student attendance has dipped as low as 30 percent in previous years, this year nearly 80 percent of the scholarship awardees joined us for the festivities.
The first of the two luncheons was held at the legendary Lawry’s The Prime Rib in Beverly Hills. The group enjoyed a wonderful meal complete with Lawry’s signature touches of the famous spinning salad and carver station. After a few poignant opening words by scholarship committee Chairman Michael Hawkins, each of the students was introduced. Since the restaurant was closed for the private party, there was plenty of room to mingle and chat with other guests.
The second luncheon was at the fabulous Grill on the Alley in downtown San Jose. The beautifully decorated long table in the wine room was perfect for the party of 11. During the meal, the guests enjoyed meeting each other, discussing their aspirations and sharing advice and anecdotes.
Overall, the new and improved more intimate format proved successful. Students enjoyed mingling with their future classmates and colleagues and CRAEF supporters enjoyed meeting the students and seeing the direct impact of their gifts. We would like to thank all of our guests for joining the celebrations and congratulations to all the CRAEF scholarship winners.
