The 3rd Annual Weekend Jetaway charity extravaganza is trumping three times the charm with bigger and better food, auction items, drinks and games, but most importantly with Elevate Phoenix, the benefiting charity.
The youth program assists with teaching, after-school mentoring and tutoring, career help, character building, community service, literary improvement and more. Through the event’s proceeds, Elevate Phoenix could double the amount of students it helps, says Tom Lehman, PGA golf star and this year’s Weekend Jetaway host. Currently, it costs $222 to mentor each of the organization’s 4,500 mentees.
After narrowing down to about 10 charities in an intensive selection process, Dillan Micus, the executive vice president of AXA Advisors Southwest (one of the event sponsors), says Elevate Phoenix stood out from the beginning. “When we really dug behind the scenes and understood the impact that Elevate is having on these children and the positive influence, the graduation rates, [and] the growth--when we looked into their board members and found out who they had on their board and heard the stories, it just fit, it was a natural fit,” he says.
Micus says the company started the event in 2012 to help children and the military. To honor that mission, the past two events have welcomed about 500 guests and raised $130,000 for Pat Tillman and the Boys and Girls Club in Scottsdale.
This year’s 21-and-up casino-themed night includes culinary creations, cocktails, prizes (the grand prize is a first-class vacation for four on a private jet), silent auctions, live music and even performances by aerial acrobats paying tribute to the charity. And if that’s not enough, pro golfer Tom Lehman, and founding board member of Elevate Phoenix, will be the event’s first host at a private hangar at the Scottsdale Airport on Nov. 1 from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Guests will enjoy cuisine from the Valley’s top restaurants including Alliance Beverage, Proof Canteen at the Four Seasons Scottsdale Resort at Troon North, Talavera at the Four Seasons Scottsdale Resort Troon North, Sassi, SOL Cocina, The Yacht Club, Tom’s Thumb Marketplace, The Mission and The Melting Pot. After enjoying top notch tastes, guests can participate in a silent auction for resort, dining, spa, golf and vacation packages. And for an added bonus, guests can bid on a chance to be Lehman’s personal guest at the British Open.
With new activities, an upgraded venue and celebrity host, the Weekend Jetaway Culinary Casino Classic is unlike any other charity event.
“We’re not just going to sit everybody at a table and give them an auction and have them wave paddles [or] have them go play golf; this is a great night out on the town,” says Micus. “Our number one goal is to drive as much revenue as we can to the charity. Number two, we want to expose Elevate, so that everybody else can see the amazing job that they’re doing with the youth community.”
Ready to elevate the night? Tickets are $100 per person and can be purchased here: www.weekendjetaway.org. For more information on Elevate Phoenix, visit www.elevatephoenix.org.
