GILROY
– The tens of thousands of hours that Garlic Festival volunteers
spent toiling in the hot July sun will pay off to the tune of
$263,000 for local organizations.
By Lori Stuenkel
GILROY – The tens of thousands of hours that Garlic Festival volunteers spent toiling in the hot July sun will pay off to the tune of $263,000 for local organizations.
That’s a large amount,” said Richard Nicholls, executive director of the Garlic Festival Association. “That’s right up there with some of the biggest payoffs we’ve been able to make.”
While revenue from the 25th annual Garlic Festival is expected to be on par with last year’s total of $1.96 million, the festival association is giving back $27,000 more to the 162 community organizations – mostly from Gilroy – that helped run the festival.
About 4,000 volunteers worked this year, which is the same amount as in 2002, but they logged slightly fewer hours. Volunteers dedicated slightly more than 41,000 hours this summer but last year gave 43,447.
“We kept to our budgets this year, and we really watched our manpower,” 2003 Festival President Janie Mardesich said. “We wanted to make sure we had adequate coverage, but just to make sure we monitored it. The (volunteer) hours were slightly reduced, so we were able to give them a higher payout.”
Because the nonprofit festival association gave out more money for fewer hours, the payout per volunteer hour is about $6.40 this year, compared with $5.43 last year.
“That has always been the goal, to return as much as possible to the volunteers,” Mardesich said.
The festival cut costs by buying in bulk, putting contracts out to bid and being mindful of costs in general, Mardesich said.
Volunteers from local organizations work for the various 23 festival committees that are responsible for everything from taking entrance tickets to selling programs and working Gourmet Alley.
“They did an excellent job, a wonderful, wonderful job this year,” Mardesich said. “All in all, I feel like we all worked as a team, and it was a success.”
The event was also a success for the many organizations that will soon receive their payoff.
The Gilroy Elks Lodge #1567 once again served the most hours and brought in the most money. The charitable organization will receive $19,408 this year for 3,500 hours spent making peppersteak sandwiches and pasta, driving parking shuttles and helping with the Garlic City Fun Run.
“The Garlic Festival to the local Elks is almost 45 percent of our budget,” said Phil Quast, the Elks’ festival chairman/liaison. “That $19,000 is a big, big part of why we can do some of the local programs we do.”
The Elks use the money for veterans outreach, school sports and activities and college scholarships to Gilroy and Morgan Hill students. Quast has volunteered at the festival for the past 23 years.
“I really enjoy it, I look forward to it,” Quast said. “It’s tedious, time consuming, a lot of energy, but the result is the local charity that comes out of it.”
Another big winner was Rebekah Children’s Services, which earned $9,654 for its building fund.
“I can’t wait to get the check,” said Eleanor Villarreal, chief development officer, who has worked at the festival all 25 years. “We look forward to (the festival) every year.”
Teenagers from South Valley Community Church directed parking lot traffic to earn money for youth ministry programs. The church’s women’s group also turned out to help bring in $8,765 that the association will give to the church.
St. Mary School parents worked for six different festival committees, including hospitality and Gourmet Alley, raising $7,047 for the school’s operating budget.
“The parents love working there, and we’re getting a dual benefit because they’re fulfilling their (required volunteer hours) and we’re getting a financial benefit,” School Secretary Mollie Botill said.
Parents are required to perform 50 hours of volunteer service each year.
The festival association’s fiscal year technically ends on Oct. 31, and there are still a few bills on the way, but for the most part, the books are closed on the 25th Annual Garlic Festival.
The festival revenues totaled about $1,524,000 this year and expenses will probably reach $1.2 million, Nicholls said. Total revenue for the year, including application fees for festival booths, will probably equal the $1.96 million raised last year.
“I’m quite pleased with what the festival did this year,” Mardesich said. “It’s a slow economy, and people still flocked to Gilroy to experience the Garlic Festival.”
Ticket sales were the biggest source of revenue, bringing in $791,000. Gourmet Alley was the next largest money-maker, generating $413,000. Mercantile sales, which include retail souvenir sales such as Herbie bobblehead dolls and wine glasses, raised $166,000.
“It was a very good year,” Nicholls said.
The association will also pay the many expenses that are generally associated with the festival.
“There’s a lot of big expenses,” Nicholls said.
Bills for the California Highway Patrol came in at $50,000. Shuttle buses cost more than $66,000 and insurance expenses ran $77,000, Nicholls said.
The festival association will earmark between $200,000 and $300,000 for next year’s festival.
The festival has raised $6.3 million for local organizations in its 25-year history.
