SPANISH FORT, Ala. — Fitzpen Place beckoned supporters of local schools Saturday night with bright lights and a big-city flair during the eighth annual Fiesta.

With a “Big Apple” theme, the Spanish Fort Educational Enrichment Foundation’s annual fundraiser raised about $50,000, the majority of which will be redistributed among classrooms in the spring.

SFEEF President Sheren LeBlanc said technology upgrades and funding for the organization’s Teacher-Student Mini Grant program will receive the lion’s share of the proceeds.

“Saturday night's event celebrated the dedicated teachers and quality education happening every day in Spanish Fort schools. A big thank you to our generous sponsors and community for supporting SFEEF,” LeBlanc said.

The annual adult-oriented fundraiser featured food and spirits as well as a silent auction, all cloaked in a chic New York-style soiree.

Sandra Bostrom, the foundation’s executive director, said the 2009 event raised more than $60,000, but organizers expected the recovering economy to impact not only the number of sponsors for Saturday’s festivities but also the amounts of the sponsorships pledged.

“This is true for not only educational foundations but for all nonprofit foundations and organizations,” said Bostrom, noting supporters must be as mindful of their expenditures in assisting community causes as the nonprofits themselves.

“Companies and individuals have to be good stewards of their finances, just as do we,” she said.

Specifically, Bostrom said the largest portion of the $50,000 will be used to continue funding the foundation’s Teacher-Student Mini Grant program, from which all four Spanish Fort Schools can apply for supplemental funds. The funds, awarded each spring, are intended to augment existing programs and even introduce new programs not typically funded through traditional Baldwin County Board of Education mechanisms.

Bostrom said the balance of the funds raised will be used to address “additional educational needs as (identified) by the Spanish Fort school principals.”

"Our next task is to raise at least $30,000 to replace mostly non-functioning computers in computer labs," she said.

“Since technology is the forefront of education and the future of our children, we deem it imperative to provide these replacement computers and know the community will be on board to help SFEEF achieve this goal,” she said.

Maggie Foster said she attended the fundraiser even though she doesn’t currently have any children in Spanish Fort Schools because it felt like a “simple enough way to do a lot of good.”

“When my kids were coming up—and there weren’t any Spanish Fort schools then—we always wanted to do more to support their teachers and programs, but we were never in a position to help financially,” Foster said.

“We volunteered as much as we could, but there was never a lot of extra money. Now that we’re retired, we have a little more flexibility, and who knows? Maybe we’ll help build programs our grandchildren can take advantage of one day,” she said, elbowing her daughter-in-law in the side with a grin.

In 2009, alone, the foundation’s mini-grant program distributed 19 grants totaling more than $25,000 to the feeder pattern’s four schools.

Said Bostrom: “Fiesta was a really fun evening as we celebrated our Spanish Fort schools achievements in not only testing scores but the success of our community working together to promote community involvement and partnerships with our Spanish Fort schools.”