Nationwide "Not A Gala" (NAG) A Success

All across the country this weekend, Clay fans who could not attend the Champions For Change Gala were having their own "Not a Gala" Gala's, also known as NAG's. And we have learned from The Clayboard NAG Thread that these celebrations were a rousing success.

Here are some highlights from the various cities that hosted NAG's around the country.

RALEIGH

Rottenrubysmom tells us: The Raleigh NAG was a huge success! We raised awareness for Inclusion and the goals of the Bubel Aiken Foundation, had raffles, silent auctions, relieved everyone of their spare change and raised the roof with all our hooting & hollering while watching the New Hampshire JBT clack....Our preliminary count puts us at about $2000 to donate to BAF plus we sold 7 My Friend Mikayla books. Not bad for 44 people! We had guests from as far away as California and British Columbia as well as a good group of locals.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

From joaniemason: Our NAG GALA was an amazing success....We had over 50 guests and 4 'Newbies' who found all of us so inspiring, so dedictated and yes so "CLAYSZY'!!!! Welcome to our ClayWorld!!!!!....We had entertainment also....4 of our guests voluntered to play the 'Candy Heart Song Game' (Clay's Valentines song on Kimmel)....each contestant was so great and so funny and each won a prize!!!!

Our Raffle and Silent Auction unofficially netted about $1700, with donations still being counted, so we will check in with the final count a bit later.

LONG ISLAND

From geemaree144: We had a very small group of 12. All of these women were the cream of the crop. We had such a great time. We sat at a round table in the back of the restaurant and made some noise for sure, but nothing that caught too much attention. It was clear to me that these women were the pioneers. They were the long time lovers of Clay and we all shared that kindred spirit.

I am proud to say that our little group mustered up $390.00 in raffles and actions. It was a very fun and successful evening.

WISCONSON

Nicki503 tells us:
We had a GREAT time....We ended up raising $1,240! We had 25 attendees so that was beyond my wildest dreams!

MA, CT, and ME

Madison228: We had a small group of 16 fans who got together last night in Westborough MA for a "Not a Gala" party in support of BAF. We had a great time watching clack, attempting to listen to the cellstream, playing games, gushing over you know who, and eating too much! The numbers aren't finalized yet, but we raised in the neighborhood of $500 for BAF.

NORTHEAST PA

We were lucky enough to raise over $3600. A good size chunk of that will also be matched by Bank of America...in a match program....I have to add to this to say...we have some of the most dedicated volunteers in the country who worked so very hard to make this all happen here in NE PA.....I'm proud to be associated with this wonderful group of people.

As of this writing, these are all the NAG's that have reported in thus far. I must say this, it never fails to amaze me at the hard work and dedication of Clay fans everywhere. From the loose change that someone puts in a jar at a fan party, to searching via Goodsearch, to fan parties with silent auctions and raffles, to someone purchasing an item at the Gala for a higher dollar amount, fans are helping in every way they can. Nothing is too small or too large. And the largest of all are hearts of the fans and the man they support, Mr. Clay Aiken.

On behalf of CDD, I'd like to say to everyone involved in raising money for BAF, thank you for reaching out further, for showing so much love, and for inspiring us all to give a little more.