DATE: March 6, 2008

MBA students from the University of Washington Foster School of Business raised nearly $175,000 at this year’s Challenge for Charity (C4C) “Best of the Northwest” Dinner and Auction Gala, in support of Special Olympics Washington and the Boys & Girls Clubs of King County.

The event is part of the year-long MBA Challenge for Charity – a competition between nine prominent West Coast business schools to provide the most support to local service organizations. Each year MBA students from the UW Foster School, Stanford, Pepperdine, USC, UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC Irvine, UC Davis and the University of San Francisco vie for the coveted “Golden Briefcase,” which has resided in the Foster School trophy case seven of the past eight years.

“We are proud to be a part of C4C and to help continue the tradition of giving which is so important to UW MBAs, our community and, most importantly, to Boys & Girls Clubs of King County and Special Olympics Washington,” said Ellie Peck, who co-chaired the event with Amy Hughes.

A crowd of 260 attended the annual auction at Seattle’s Bell Harbor International Conference Center in February. Among the revelers-with-a-cause were many MBA alumni of the Foster School, as well as representatives from several area companies, including Miller Nash, Microsoft, Accenture, Washington Mutual, Fluke and the Gates Foundation.

Successful bidders in the “Best of the Northwest” auction took home dinner parties prepared by local chefs and the famed Pike Place Fish Mongers; choice tickets to Mariners and Seahawks games; an ultimate car stereo system; getaways to Seattle, Whistler, Victoria, Park City and San Francisco; a party cruise for 150; a tour of the Microsoft art collection; dinner at a private supper club; a trip on Alaska Airlines; a cruise on Holland America; a Nordstrom shopping spree; a tour of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner; a wake surfing lesson; a guided ascent of Mount Rainer; a delivery of “zoo doo” fertilizer and six MBAs to landscape; a poker night, finance lunch, wine tasting, and Lake Washington sailing tour with Foster School faculty; and the intriguing 99 bottles of beer in a wheelbarrow.

In addition to the dollars raised at the C4C Auction, Foster MBAs also volunteer thousands of hours in service to Special Olympics and Boys & Girls Clubs.

“The success of the C4C ‘Best of the Northwest’ Auction can only be found in lasting relationships,” explained Ellie Peck, who co-chaired the event with Amy Hughes. “And the auction is lucky to have strong support from the Foster School of Business, the Seattle business community and a network of amazing donors, supporters and, of course, MBA alums. We have shown again this year that Foster MBA alumni remain closely tied to the program and share the passion of current MBAs for the C4C and the two great organizations we support.”

Miller Nash provided lead sponsorship for this year’s C4C Dinner and Auction Gala, with additional support from Microsoft, Gilead, Fluke, Group Health, HP, UI Evolution and Watson Wyatt.