By staff writer Rowan Esquer

On February 27th, Bay Farm School held its very first Crab Feed fundraiser at the Elk’s Lodge. Many Bay Farm parents and teachers attended this event on a Friday night for an evening of dancing, games, and, of course, crab.

Several BFMS eighth graders also attended, volunteering to man the registration table. Twenty-five percent of the proceeds, about $2,500, will be passed on to the middle school program to help it grow.

Bay Farm parent Danielle Golay brought the idea for a crab feed to the PTA Fundraising Committee last year. She had organized a few Crab Feed events in the past, which turned out to be successful. Based on the results of the other feeds, she thought it would be a good idea to help Bay Farm to raise money.

The committee reported that the Crab Feed was very successful: At the end of the night, the event made more than $10,000 for the school. Members of the fundraising committee said they felt as if they were not only raising money for Bay Farm students, but that they accomplished their goal of hosting a fun event for the of Bay Farm school community.

“I truly believe that the Fall Festival and the Crab Feed are great ways to raise money for our school, while bringing our community together for a fun event,” said Rak Bhalla, chairman of the Fundraising Committee.

Apart from the food, the committee was able to come up with a few fun activities for the parents to enjoy before and throughout the evening, such as a teacher cake auction. Prior to the event, local Alameda businesses and parents were generous enough to donate to an online auction. Many art docents, who are parents at Bay Farm, gave a significant amount of their time to make exquisite classroom masterpieces to auction off online.

Eighth graders Christina Aguilar, Rowan Esquer, Kristina Galvin, Azameet Gebremariam, Zakary Kong, Ethan Muon and Ryan Ong also volunteered their time to help make the event successful.

Bhalla said he expects that the Crab Feed will be held every two years, as to not conflict with the auction held every other year.