MARION — The Toast of the Coast fundraiser may have been held in Marion, but the Sept. 27 fundraiser was all to benefit the Gleason Family YMCA 

Taking place at the Marion Music Hall, the event offered the chance to eat food from local restaurants, drink, participate in silent and live auctions and a number of other creative fundraising efforts. 

Gleason Family YMCA’s goal was to raise $150,500. “This will bring us pretty close to that goal,” said the organization’s Senior Executive Director Debbie Fringuelli. The funds all go to scholarships so that anyone who wants to participate in YMCA programming can do so, even if their financial circumstances otherwise wouldn’t allow it. 

Fringuelli said that at the YMCA branch typically they typically “give out more than we raise in scholarships. But, because all of the auction items were donated, Fringuelli said “we spend very little on the event. Most of it goes back to scholarships.” 

Event organizers usually “expect 100 people. That’s pretty much where we are tonight,” Fringuelli said.  

The Senior Executive Director credited the staff and volunteers at the YMCA for the months of work they had put in to plan the event, and of course the event’s sponsors. 

Ella’s Wood Burning Oven was one of the contributors to the food table, and Indian Cove Aquaculture donated oysters for the event. 

Ella’s didn’t just have food at the fundraiser, but also pitched into the live auction, with a pizza party for 25. Soft as a Grape also donated to a sunset cruise, while Nessaralla Farms, Hair Cuttery, and Wareham Ford also pitched in. Sullivan’s Wine and Spirits also got a special thanks from the organizers. 

Wareham’s Representative Susan Williams Gifford also served as the guest auctioneer for the event. 

The YMCA also ran a wine raffle, where entrants donated to pull a cork for a bottle of wine with a value between $10 and $90, and offered mystery bags with a $25 value to a variety of different restaurants and businesses.