The Inaugural Treasure the Chest Party benefiting the Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition was held on
Thursday, September 16, 2010.

Lorie Marrella and her team at FruitFlowers began planning this event earlier in the year. “At one of our manager’s meetings, we discussed how much we loved supporting the DBCC in October for breast cancer awareness month and thought it would be great to do more. We came up with “Treasure the Chest”, says Marrella. We quickly formed a committee and Crystal Potter, general manager of FruitFlowers, stepped right up and offered to be the Treasure the Chest Committee Chair. “We all loved working with Priscilla Rakestraw and her team over at the DBCC. I couldn’t wait to be more involved”, said Potter.

The committee, wanting to raise more than $10,000 for the year, decided to hold several events, such as the Treasure Chest Yard Sale in the spring, Pink Power Happy Hour in the summer, and cap off the efforts with a BIG party in the early fall…Treasure the Chest Party & Silent Auction. Needing a venue for the party, Marrella turned to Rossana Carranante of Lamberti’s Italian Grill & Bar located in Prices Corner. Rossana was eager to help and supply her restaurant for such a great cause.

Marrella quickly went to work searching for sponsors who wanted to help. “I turned to our good neighbors (and great CPA’s), Sparano, Vincelette and Villano”, commented Marrella.  Renee Villano was super excited and jumped right on the band wagon. Kenny Family ShopRites of Delaware, Pro Physical Therapy, Dr. Christopher Saunders of Brandywine Cosmetic Surgery were soon to follow. Doug Dowd of The Growth Coach Anne Marie and Frank Miller of Frank’s Wholesale Fruits & Produce and Steve Lewis of Bramhall Hitchens Insurance rounded out the C-Cup Pink Ribbon Sponsors. “All were very instrumental during the entire planning stages” says Potter, adding, “They didn’t just write the check and sit back and wait for the party. They all were instrumental in selling chances, supporting us at events and helping us sell pink chocolate covered strawberries to raise additional money for the DBCC”.

Teresa DeVries of Swarthmore Financial Services helped out the group during the benefit yard sale in the spring and wanted to do more. She signed up SFS as the Double-D Knockout Sponsor of Treasure the Chest Party. Teresa and the staff of SFS had a hot dog sale the week prior to the party and raised additional funds on top of their sponsorship in order to further the efforts! Treasure the Chest committee members could not have been happier with all of the sponsors support!

The night of the big event finally arrived and included music provided by JAM Productions, a silent auction as well as the excitement of a live auction. The silent auction held more than 25 awesome items and the live auction had a wheelbarrow of cheer filled with items donated by Premier Wine & Spirits (wheelbarrow provided by True Value Prices Corner), a beach house for a long weekend, Phillies tickets, and much more. Auctioneer for the evening, Jeff Metz, really stirred up the excitement and had the crowd in bidding wars. “Absolutely fabulous”, beams Rakestraw of the DBCC. “The food was good, the drinks were flowing, and people had a good time while helping out such a great cause”, says Marrella excitedly.

The evening was the icing on the cake for the yearlong efforts of Lorie Marrella and her FruitFlowers team promoting Treasure the Chest events. “This evening was a huge success and put us over the top of our $10,000 goal for the year!” says Potter. Lorie adds “We are so excited we will begin plans for next year in just a few short weeks. Keep your eyes open for upcoming Treasure the Chest Events for next year!”

You can help all year long by ordering FruitFlowers the next time you need a gift for a birthday, a get well or even a sympathy. Mention DBCC and FruitFlowers will not only give YOU $5 off, FruitFlowers will send DBCC $5! “How great is that?” says Rakestraw.