November 10, 2005


Silver-lined setback

ABA fund-raising efforts enhanced by DOJ shutdown;
new officers elected

By Kymberli W. Brady
Staff Writer

In the two weeks that have passed since the Department of Justice crackdown on its Texas Hold’em tournament fund-raiser, the Almaden Business Association has become something of a poster child for inspirational clichés.

Lee Brandenburg and Bill Barron presented a $10,000 check to the ABA on behalf of the Brandenburg Family Foundation after reading about the government crackdown on their fundraising tournament last month.

Whether you consider the glass half full or the grass a little greener, the tip from one of San Jose’s finest that led to a warning from the Department of Justice has emerged as the silver lining surrounding the cloud that has hovered over the ABA since its philanthropic efforts to raise funds for the children’s reading area of the Almaden
Branch Library were thwarted on Oct. 22.

According to ABA members, statewide media publicity surrounding the unpopular DOJ decision, donations continue to pour in and they are close to doubling their original goal of $15,000, thanks to media publicity surrounding the event and continued ABA efforts to raise much-needed funds for the children’s story time area of the new Almaden Branch Library and Community Center.

“We had $15,300 the week before the event,” said tournament organizer Rich Crowley. “Before today, we had over $17,000 turned in. This brings us to $27,000 and we still have money that has been promised and prizes that we might use for an event or to set up an online auction. The check today was a huge step. Our goal, once we decided to cancel the tournament is to raise more money than if we’d held it.”

“And we are raising more than we planned,” added ABA President-elect Rich De La Rosa. “This is also bringing awareness to law enforcement, the DOJ and the legislature that there is a real problem with this particular law when it hits churches, public schools, and nonprofits.”

Thanks to the generosity of the Brandenburg Fam-ily Foundation, De La Rosa presented Eleanor Dickman of the San Jose Public Library Foundation with a check for $10,000 during last Wed-nesday’s regular ABA meeting. It was the largest single contribution to date and brings the current total to $27,000.

Foundation board member Bill Baron contacted De La Rosa after reading about the shut down.

Eleanor’s reaction when she saw how much the donation was “WOW!” Then a second “WOW!” as the ABA members and guests erupted in loud applause as Eleanor announced the amount of the check. It was a very special moment. 

“I’m so impressed with what they’ve done,” said District 10 City Councilmember Nancy Pyle, who was on hand to present contributions from her office. “It’s so heartwarming.”

Pyle also announced plans to present a community service award to the ABA at City Hall at a later date.

“This is all a huge success,” added De La Rosa. “Certainly because we couldn’t hold the event and still surpassed our goal. We’ve had some people really step up, including the firefighters and the Brandenburg Foundation. We want to thank everyone for the generosity that has made this worthwhile fund raising campaign a big success. You really find out who your friends are in times like this.”

Bill Barron, Brandenburg Family Foundation chairman, took the story to Diane and Lee Brandenburg. The decision to contribute, he says was an easy one, as the foundation hands out $500,000 each year to community and nonprofit organizations, primarily directed toward those targeted toward kids and other less fortunate causes.

Lee Brandenburg and Bill Barron with the Brandenburg Family Foundation take a sneak peak at the plans for the new library, slated to open in January.

“You read an article about the absolute goofiness and interpretation of a state law,” he said. “Nonprofits in our community seem to be getting their funding cut back and corporations are slowing their giving down since 9/11. It sort of raised our antennae and we said this was nuts! We’ve got to do something. We have business interests in the Almaden Valley, with the Cinnabar Hills Golf Club, which we built, own and manage. We get a great deal of support from Almaden residents and found this to be a marvelous way to be able to give back in a very quick and efficient way. We would have loved to have come to the event and have fun—this was the right thing to do at the right time.”

“We’re always interested in libraries, kids, and Almaden,” added Bill Brandenburg, a former Almaden resident, whose kids attended Simonds Elementary and Bret Harte Middle School.

“The library was actually a great correlation because Lee and Diane have been very involved with the Martin Luther King/San Jose State University, with the Brandenburg Browsing Library within the library itself. This is such an important cause and kids are so important to the foundation. They are the future and we need to make sure we support them in every way we can.”

De La Rosa kept the amount to himself until the official presentation on Oct. 2, which elicited an emotional response from everyone in attendance.

“He told me to put this check directly into the hands of the person at the foundation, so I called Eleanor,” laughed De La Rosa. “She looked at the check and looked at it again trying to digest the amount on it—yes, there were five zeros, not four.”

The check comes at a time that keeps volunteers dedicated to the causes they serve, especially in this case, where so much work is put into an event, only to have it shut down and still raise more money than if the event had been held in the first place.

“We came out smelling like a rose,” De La Rosa said.”

2006 officers elected
At the meeting, officers were elected to represent the ABA in 2006 and include Rich De La Rosa as president, Rich Crowley as vice president, and Pete Bucter who will serve a second term as treasurer.

The ABA has until Dec. 31 to continue raising money for the needs of the new library and contributions are tax-deductible. For information, visit www.almadenbizassn.org or call Rich De la Rosa at (408) 828-1983. To learn more about the Almaden Branch Library Project and the ABA “Branching Out” campaign, visit www.sanjoselibraryfoundation.org or contact Eleanor Dickman, the Foundation’s director of development at (408) 808-2081or ewdickman@sjplf.org.