Crab Feeds Snapping Up Funds for Bay Area Organizations, Growing in Popularity

Who knew the crab—that red crustacean with the big, pinching claws and beady eyes—would provide such tasty, and lucrative, fundraising and community-building events for Bay Area organizations?

The delectable white meat provided by California Dungeness crabs packs in thousands of people to a growing number of charity crab feeds this time of year, which are turning into one of the top ways for groups like school support organizations, youth sports leagues, police and fire organizations, churches, among others, to raise much-needed funds.

The events also serve as a way to bring communities together as beloved annual traditions. Despite ticket prices of $50 or more per person, the feeds are flourishing during the economic downturn.

“It’s always been a fundraiser, it’s always been a money maker, but really it’s to get people together,” said Justin Greene, who’s been in the business of crab feeds since the mid 1970s. Justin’s Crab Company provides fresh, ready-to-eat Dungeness crab to hundreds of charity feeds, mostly January through March.

In Cupertino, the Fremont Union High School District Foundation (FUHSDF) is expecting 600 to 700 people to consume about 1,900 pounds of crab—nearly one ton—provided by Greene’s company, from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., on April 5, in the De Anza College Gym.

Tickets are currently selling for $40; they are $50 at the door. The price includes parking, a meal of crab, pasta salad, green salad, bread, and a gourmet vegetarian Indian meal option, plus live music, live and silent auctions, student exhibitions, and more.

“In our case it’s a really big social event,” said Barbara Juhl, this year’s FUHSDF coordinator. “It allows teachers, parents, and administrators from all five schools to come together.”

The one night, plus corporate sponsorships, brings in approximately $100,000 to the foundation, she said. Ticket sales alone bring in $60,000. The money goes to programs the district does not fund at its five high schools, like STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) programs, School Loop (online posting of homework and grades that helps students and parents track progress), science equipment, the robotics program, among others.

This is the 14^th year of the FUHSD crab feed, and every year it picks up more momentum, Juhl said.

To see the entire story, go to the Good Neighbor Stories website.