The Gilroy Garlic Festival released its final tally of the
amount that volunteer groups earned through staffing the festival
this past summer.
The Gilroy Garlic Festival released its final tally of the amount that volunteer groups earned through staffing the festival this past summer.
Of the festival’s 4,000 volunteers, this year tireless students out-earned most other volunteers since they worked more hours keeping the festival clean and sweating through the day in Gourmet Alley.
Each volunteer logs their hours and then when the festival’s over, they donate a portion of the proceeds to their favorite nonprofit based on how many hours they worked. The more hours put in, the more money for your favorite charity.
The Gilroy High School choir group, marching band, wrestling and boys basketball teams and St. Mary’s School were all in the top fifteen nonprofit earners, testament to the work of young legs and the community’s devotion to education, Lazarus said.
“Most students worked in Gourmet Alley, so it’s not like they had cushion jobs,” said 2007 Garlic Festival President Judy Lazarus. “The GHS volunteers were in there earning their hours themselves.”
The Garlic Festival raked in enough money this year to dole out $275,000 to more than 150 local nonprofits.
The festival took in about $1.6 million this year, slightly higher than the $1.4 million its taken over the past five years. The vast majority of that money finances the festival’s set-up and organization, with the remaining going to the nonprofits, community improvement projects, or the Garlic Festival Association’s bank account for next year.
See the files on this page for the list of all the volunteer groups and the final tally of their numbers.
