Seattle Community Comes Together to Raise Millions in Scholarships for Kids
By Daniel Aurelio, Eric Davis & Peter Yu
With uncertainty all-around, there is one thing the Fulcrum Foundation is keeping clear: they are here to make an impact. With the pandemic closing businesses and schools forcing students to learn from home, and families facing financial difficulties due the economic fallout, it was clear that Fulcrum Foundation needed a solution to host their annual Celebration of Light fundraiser to continue to support the education of thousands of students in the Greater Seattle Area. As a force of good in the community for over 15 years, one thing is for certain: Covid won’t stop this community.
The Celebration of Light fundraiser last Friday was an expansive festivity dedicated to raising money for the Fulcrum Foundation. Typically held in the Sheraton Grand Ballroom in Seattle, the event is normally a fantastic opportunity for the community to come together in support of Fulcrum’s mission of providing scholarships for low-income students. With a massive goal of $2 Million for their 2021 celebration, Fulcrum knew they needed to put on an impressive event.
The Fulcrum Foundation leverages financial support in the Archdiocese of Seattle to help families through tuition assistance grants, school partnership grants, and grants for transformational leaders. Since 2003, the Celebration of Light has been our primary fundraising and donor event of the year and raised over $2 million in 2019 and 2020,” — Vivian Shannon, Fulcrum Foundation’s Executive Director.
“In September, the Puget Sound Business Journal ranked the Celebration of Light among the Top 10 Largest Benefit Events in the region. As this [was] be our first-ever virtual gala, and so much is riding on its success, we wanted to work with an experienced partner like Zeacon who specializes in producing online virtual fundraisers and events….” — Vivian Shannon, Fulcrum Foundation’s Executive Director.
Due to the ongoing pandemic, this year’s attendees did not gather at the Sheraton Grand Ballroom, but instead the Fulcrum Foundation formed a unique new partnership with local Bellevue-based technology firm Zeacon. Having hosted several large fundraisers and parties virtually for both nonprofits and corporations like Amazon and Linkedin, the Zeacon team was thrilled to work alongside the Fulcrum Foundation to execute this event.
“Zeacon is delighted to be a co-sponsor of the 2021 Celebration of Light,” — Kris Naidu, Zeacon’s Chief Executive Officer.
Since June, Zeacon has powered numerous successful fundraising events and is always looking for new opportunities to assist local communities with virtual solutions big and small.
“Philanthropy and the valuable work of Fulcrum Foundation is more important than ever for the Greater Seattle region. We are honored to have enabled Fulcrum Foundation’s inaugural virtual gala and deliver such a memorable experience for all guests. As the livestream technology partner for many nonprofit organizations, Zeacon continues to be inspired by our clients’ missions and remain aligned and focused on Intelligently Connecting Communities.” — Kris Naidu, Zeacon’s Chief Executive Officer.
In addition to tuition assistance, the Fulcrum Foundation is active in many other ways supporting Catholic education — with programs like school partnership grants, Covid-19 Relief, teacher excellence grants, and more. To put it simply, the Fulcrum Foundation does everything in its power to strengthen Catholic education as a whole in western Washington.
Providing financial assistance that allows students to obtain a life-changing catholic education is at the core of the Fulcrum Foundation’s mission. Supporters of the Fulcrum Foundation can proudly say that their assistance directly made a large impact on someone’s education.
Zeacon thanks the Fulcrum Foundation and all of the 600+ guests and supporters of The Celebration of Light 2021 for being a part of a truly unforgettable virtual experience. We hope everyone had a memorable, fun evening and congratulate Fulcrum raising over $1.7M (and counting) as a result of this year’s virtual gala.
