Marbucks Tiaras and Tea Parties

Saturday, October 14 marked the second annual High Tea at Marbucks Coffee House. It was a Raise Me Up fundraising event that gave all the flip-flop wearing island girls an opportunity to go girly showing their best hats, heels and tea dresses and take part in an English style tradition. Though not as many people went for hats this year compared to the pics I saw of last years event.

The afternoon tea party at Marbucks was accompanied by live music, flowing champagne, tasty light snacks a silent auction and of course delicious dessert and tea. They even threw in a surprise “bachelor auction” for fun. The bachelors auctioned were David Jenkins, Jason Baranec, and Andy Avila.

As always the community always gets behind a good cause and there were a great number of sponsors as well. Here is the extensive list that I tracked down from a picture Joe Chung sent me taken by San Pedro Scoop Blog.

Adam Feldman, Ak’bol Yaga Retreat & Eco Resort, Belize Chocolate Company, Belize Fitness, Belizean Arts, Belizean Breezes Soap Co., Ben Popik, Bernadette Damper, Black Orchid Restaurant, Blue Water Grill, Bob Hawkins, Casa Picasso, Caye Supplies, CG Esthetic, Chez Caribe, ChiChi Rodriguez, Costa Blu Resort, Creative Tours, Daydreamin’ Bed & Breakfast, Dixie Bowen, El Fogon, Elivi’s Kitchen, EVOO, Felicity Sailing Belize, French Bakery Connection, Gecko Graphics, Greenhouse, Heaven’s, Iraida Gonzalez, Island Essentrics, Island Life Teeth Whitening, Island Tackle, Jack Burnett, Jackie Feldman, Jason Baranec, Lesley Nolan, Lola’s, Lolly & Glen Slattery, Mambo Chill, Marbucks Coffee House, Marie Carroll, Maxi’s, Melody Wolfe, My Beauty Salon, Palapa Bar, Pampered Paws, Pier 366, Polish Salon, Premium Wines, Rachael Roe – Signature Belize Weddings, Rain, Reinland Meats, Sandy Point Resorts, Science and Soul Wellness, Seaduced, Serendipity, Sheryl Hitchens, Sol Spa, Stax, Stella’s Smile, Sundiver Beach Resort, Terry Gallagher, Thaiane Ribeiro, The Color Ginger, The Dive Bar, The French Touch, The Hidden Treasure Restaurant, Tropic Air, Vellie Williams, Victoria House, Wine Divine, Xsite Belize Sailing Adventures, Truck Stop and Zen Belize. 

Having worked on many events and know how much goes into it, I asked Marlene Houghton (the “Mar” in Marbucks) if she had a list of people to thank, and this was her response:

I don’t have a “specific” list. So many helped – setting up and taking down tents; those that donated dishes, linens, glassware, chairs. So many donated time for decorating, running around picking up gift certificates and baskets and photography. Time volunteered for cooking and cleaning in the kitchen. Staff from Casa Picasso and Truck Stop working so professionally. I could go on. The committed volunteers that are all part of Hope Haven. It was a great effort by a whole bunch of great people!”

It is obvious by her words, she is so grateful to everyone who helped make the Tea Party a huge success.

So far 11.7k was raised between donations and 68 tickets sold for the event. There are still a few more commitments to be factored in when collected this week. The proceeds from the event went to Raise Me Up, to fund much-needed community projects; Hope Haven Children’s Shelter, the San Pedro Food Bank, San Pedro Kids Club, Adopt-A-Bear, and the Literacy Program.

Always an After Party

Following the Tea party, Aimee suggested we stop at Wayo’s the “guys” were meeting there to watch some football while the ladies had tea.

Adam and Ben were pretty much the only ones left when we arrived I also ran into my friend Cori who is about to open Cranky Cori’s Catering business we were able to do in-person cheers of her cool new logo and 8 years as Facebook friends.