When it comes to winter charity auctions in Southwest Florida, it really is a jungle out there.
That’s why it’s fitting that Safari Adventure 2016 is the theme of Wanderlust, the biggest annual fundraiser for Florida Gulf Coast University’s School of Resort & Hospitality Management. The 27th annual extravaganza takes place Saturday, March 19 at Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort & Spa in Bonita Springs.
In keeping with the safari theme, this year’s Wanderlust is exploring new territory — abandoning its usual April date and marching up on the heels of the region’s two other big bonanzas of wine-and-dine-and-travel bidding: the Naples Winter Wine Festival and the Southwest Florida Wine & Food Fest.
“We wanted to try to do it before the snowbirds leave,” said Todd Reed, a 2015 resort and hospitality management graduate and event-planning intern who’s teaming with peers Sabrina Bracken and Paige Martin as Wanderlust’s “bwanas” (that’s “leaders” in Swahili).
Reed, Bracken and Martin are part of what makes Wanderlust unique among charity auctions. These are FGCU resort and hospitality students — not seasoned professionals — entrusted with organizing and staging a mammoth event.
This is the third year Wanderlust has been run by students and the second go-round for Reed, who started his own event-planning business as an undergraduate. While at first glance the spacious office on the second floor of Sugden Hall dedicated to all things Wanderlust looks like … well … a rather untidy dorm suite, there is incredibly organized method to this madness.
“You should have seen it in here a couple of weeks ago,” said Reed, smiling. He’s surrounded by stacks of boxes with promotional literature and framed by several dozen yellow Post-it notes stuck on frosted windows near his buried desk, each neatly listing the details of a donated auction lot.
Reed himself designed the brochures and fliers, which feature the signature artwork of a tree and African animals silhouetted against a sunrise (or sunset, if you prefer) and branded lettering similar to that on signs at Busch Gardens. Bracken, meanwhile, is in charge of ticket sales and sponsorships while Martin is coordinating gift donations.
The all-inclusive travel getaways to intriguing domestic and foreign locations are heavy on pampering. A particular favorite of Reed’s up for grabs in this year’s auction is a weeklong California excursion with multiple private tours and tastings through the Napa Valley and beyond.
While the traveling, wining and dining are the night’s allure, the true benefit that makes Wanderlust unique is where the money goes — directly to FGCU’s resort and hospitality family. That’s what gets community leaders such as Diana Willis, owner of six Jason’s Deli locations in Southwest Florida, on board front and center.
Willis, who with her husband, Scott, has championed FGCU’s growth for the past 15 years — originally as athletics boosters — has special interest in Wanderlust, both as the chairwoman of resort and hospitality’s advisory board and as a businesswoman who taps into the school’s talent pool for current and future employees.
“This isn’t like other auctions … this is all about hospitality,” Willis said. “It ties directly into the scholarships we offer and provides educational opportunities for students and faculty outside the university.
“It’s a niche market, and Wanderlust is a strategic way to let people know more about what we do internally and on the state and national level.”
And it enables FGCU’s resort and hospitality school to “keep its student fees as low as possible,” Reed added.
At the end of the night, Reed is hopeful his team and a professional auctioneer can bring in at least $300,000, which would double last year’s Wanderlust take. “We can seat 1,000 people at the Hyatt compared to the 200 we could accommodate on campus,” Reed said.
And in keeping with the tradition most Wanderlusters observe by dressing for the evening in line with the event theme, one can expect the usual formal-evening garb to share space with safari hats and simulated zebra-or-giraffe-lined khaki clothing — maybe even a Tarzan-like loin cloth or two.
“Uh … let’s hope not,” Reed said with a grimace and a smile as he envisioned how the latter might look.
Wanderlust safari guide
- What: Wanderlust: Safari Adventure 2016
- When: 6 p.m. Saturday, March 19
- Where: Hyatt Regency Coconut Resort & Spa, 5001 Coconut Road, Bonita Springs
- Details: Dinner, entertainment and charity auction benefiting Florida Gulf Coast University’s School of Resort & Hospitality Management
- Auction lots: Packages include all-inclusive resort and destination trips; airline and cruise tickets; hotel stays; train and limo excursions; food, wine and golf deals, and more.
- Tickets: $200 each
- Sponsorships: Packages from $3,000 (table) to $25,000 (platinum)
- Information: Go to FGCU.edu/Wanderlust or email Sabrina Bracken for ticket/sponsorship info at [email protected]; Paige Martin for donation info at [email protected] or Todd Reed for general info at [email protected].
- Community partners: Major business sponsors of Wanderlust include the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort & Spa, Cheney Brothers, Republic National Distributing Co., Gulfshore Life, Naples Daily News and The Ritz-Carlton, Naples.