By Khalida Sarwari
Over the years, Valle Monte League, an all-female organization, has donated millions toward improving the lives of mental health patients in Santa Clara County. On Nov. 15, the city of Saratoga—home to many league members—commended the organization on the occasion of its 50th anniversary and for its fundraising achievement.
To mark the milestone, the league is celebrating in grand style, with a party Jay Gatsby himself would likely attend.
The group, made up of 180 women who reside in Santa Clara County, is putting on its annual Christmas Tree Elegance on Dec. 1, a two-part event that starts with a champagne brunch in the morning and concludes with a holiday party in the evening. What makes this year’s event special is that it’s the 50th anniversary, and that means some changes, specifically in the format and venue. For the first time this year, organizers are moving the event from the DoubleTree Hotel in San Jose to the Santa Clara Convention Center to accommodate a bigger party.
“This is our hallmark event,” said Valle Monte League President Linda Conover. “We consider this to be a pivotal year where we’re proud of our past, so this is a very big deal for us, and it’s one of the reasons we moved it to this venue.”
The evening holiday party, which still had tickets available as of Nov. 20, is set to include a fashion show produced by Red Haute & Company, live music by Ibiza Vibes and, of course, the group’s signature offering: 14 professionally decorated Christmas trees with extravagant gifts underneath them, for the taking via raffle drawings. Raffle tickets are $5.
The event will also feature a silent auction for prizes such as a trip to Africa, golf packages in New York City, drawings for items such as a sparkle jewel courtesy of Joe Escobar Diamonds and a tree filled with premium wines. Centerpieces from the event will also be available for sale.
Conover said she expects about 2,000 attendees, similar to years past.
“We have people that have been literally coming for decades,” she said. “We stage a really high-quality event that is eagerly anticipated by our guests, and they return year after year. It’s always held at the beginning of December, so for many people, it kind of kicks off the holiday season and kind of fills them with the spirit of the season.”
The Christmas Tree Elegance is Valle Monte League’s annual flagship fundraiser. The San Jose-based nonprofit was founded in 1950 with the mission of raising funds for mental health agencies in Santa Clara County. The group has succeeded in raising $9.5 million over the years.
Proceeds from this year’s event will go toward four local mental health organizations that the group supports: Family and Children Services of Silicon Valley, The Centre for Living with Dying, Alzheimer’s Activity Center and Services for Brain Injury.
As for the commendation from Saratoga City Council recently, Conover is grateful.
“It was nice to be recognized in a city that knows intimately of our organization and has so many people that have been supporters and attendees for a long time,” she said.
Conover, who resides in Los Altos Hills, joined the group in 2008 and served as an event chairwoman last year. She said she is proud of being at the helm this year.
“I feel like one of my goals this year was to really move us forward as an organization in terms of modernizing and nonprofit management, so we really wanted to make changes that would give us confidence in our future and at the same time keep our values from the past,” she said.
Christmas Tree Elegance takes place in the main ballroom of the Convention Center at 5001 Great America Parkway, Santa Clara. The champagne brunch is from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and the holiday party is from 6 to 11 p.m. Brunch tickets, at $125 each, are sold out,but holiday party tickets can be purchased online only for $180 at vallemonte.org.
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