MORE THAN 100 EARLY CHILDHOOD CENTER parents, teachers and guests gathered January 21 at Chez Zou for the “Miami Vice”-themed ECC Annual Auction raising some $120,000 to support our school.

Emceeing the live auction was comedian Seth “The Zog” Herzog, a regular performer on NBC’s “Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon” and the father of two ECC students.

“It was awesome to see our parent community come together for such an incredible evening of fun in support of our school,” said Stacie Dattner, who co-chaired the auction with fellow ECC moms Hitha Herzog and Maria Selip. “The fabulous decor, the scrumptious food and drinks, plus the amazing auction items made Miami Vice a night to remember!”

Some lucky parents left the auction with prizes like a weeklong stay at the Four Seasons Nevis, two nights at the Montage Laguna Beach, VIP tickets to Cynthia Rowley’s Fashion Week fashion-comedy show, a rooftop magic show birthday party at Stephen Wise, a night out with Seth and some of his showbiz friends, and more.

The auction raised critical support for the Early Childhood Center’s operations, including funding our art studio and other facilities, STEM and library programs, specialist teachers and security for our children. “I’m overwhelmed by the generosity of our close-knit parent body,” said ECC Director Miriam Kalmar. “This was such a fun event, bringing together our teachers, parents and synagogue leaders to support the ECC and strengthen our community. Thank you to everyone who donated and helped make it such an amazing evening.”

Along with their parents, our ECC children helped prepare for the auction by hand-writing invitations and signs, producing artwork and appearing in a special video about the school. “What makes the ECC so special is there are lots of kids here and I love being with my friends and teachers,” explained one of our 4s/5s children.

It’s not too late to donate and support our Early Childhood Center! Visit swfs.org/ecc-give.

All photos by Ian Cooke.