Saturday October 8th 2016 marked the 23rd annual Mayor’s Charity Ball and AK Child & Family once again attended in support of our community. Board members Jim Arlington, Christina Rankin, Pat Abney, Dan Goodstein, and Stacy Marshall were joined by Rachel W (nee Arlington), Scott Rankin, Rob Morris, Penny Goodstein, and James Marshall. The evening was a tremendous success raising awareness for four worthy charities with a veritable list of who’s who in Anchorage contributing and raising money for worthy causes. As a recent recipient AK Child & Family knows just how beneficial this event is in order to meet mission needs. And this year’s recipients will surely appreciate the financial and community awareness generated from the event. This years four recipients were: Challenge Alaska, Beacon Hill, Chugiak Youth Sports Association, and Anchorage International Film Festival. Since inception back in 1994 the Mayor’s Charity Ball has raised over $3.1 million to support local community charity organizations.
With ten members of AK Child & Family in attendance a good time was had by all. Stories were shared and bonds strengthened. Recent board member addition Stacy had a chance to get to know some other longer serving board members such as Jim who has served as board president twice in his 20 years of service to the agency. Christina, as incoming board chair was seated next to Dan who was enthusiastically recounting his experience as a member of our Sanctuary Team thereby raising awareness of what’s going on within the agency. And Pat regaled us with stories about her years teaching, and through it her connection to the agency, as well as experiences as an Anchorage Assemblywoman. Getting to know board spouses (Scott, Penny, and James) and relatives (Rachel) was also enlightening and most enjoyable.
All of us at AK Child & Family would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to the generous and hard-working community for continuing to support local 501c(3) agencies. On behalf of the staff of AK Child & Family we would also like to thank the board members who took time to attend, bid, and share a few words with fellow civic-minded individuals about the work, history, and importance of AK Child & Family.
