Rooftop Auction

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Rooftop Alternative School is a K-8 School in the SF Unified School District

History of the Rooftop Auction

An Interview with Deb Desuyo by Wendy Hanamura

As with so many Rooftop traditions, it all began when one parent said "yes."

At a PTA meeting more than a decade ago, Rooftop parent and political fundraiser, Mary Jung, asked if anyone would be willing "to make a few solicitation calls." Debbie Desuyo raised her hand. The rest is Rooftop history. "I was clueless," Desuyo recalls, laughing. "I didn't know what a Silent Auction was. But it was my first step into being a part of the school community. All I had to do was say, 'Yes, I'll help!'"

The first Silent Auction was held in the Spring of 1993, as part of the annual Rooftop Picnic in Golden Gate Park. The bid boards sunk into the mud. Children hovered by the "Kids and Sports" tables, crying for their parents to bid on that Basket of Barbie dolls. With no electricity for computers, parents furiously added up the Auction tabs on hand calculators. Yet despite the obstacles, Rooftop Spirit carried the day and the PTA earned thousands of dollars to fund programs in art, sensory motor and the garden.

In 1995, Desuyo and her Auction Co-Chair, Ann Krilanovich, decided to make the Auction an evening affair. To prepare, they bought tickets to every school auction they could find, looking for ideas, tasting hors d'oeuvres, scoping out items. Faye Narin, head of the solicitations team, perused the Internet and phone book looking for donors. That first year was pure trial and error. Yet 300 people came to the 1st Annual Rooftop Auction at the Hall of Flowers.

Over the years, the Rooftop Auction has evolved, with profits rising 10-15% each year. Class Projects in the Live Auction began with a quilting bee at school. When artist, Josie Carter, joined Rooftop, she began offering workshops to turn old furniture into works of art for the auction. Carter's furniture was so beautiful that multiple sheets were needed to accommodate all the bidders. Desuyo will never forget the fistfight that almost broke out over one of Josie's stools, with each woman convinced that she had made the final bid. (Peace was restored when Josie kindly agreed to make a second one.)

"Stress would always build up because I was never sure how things would turn out," remembers Desuyo. "But it would always turn out because I worked people to the bone!" Of course, no one worked harder than the Chairperson herself. From 1993 to 2002, Desuyo led the auction effort with equal parts of persistence and charm. For years, each March her home turned into Auction Central: bid sheets tacked to the dining room walls, baskets stored in the living room, donations in the garage and 20 cases of Anchor Steam beer in the hall. "I miss the adrenaline rush," she confides, "Of closing up the truck that last Friday when we'd load up at school."

And the most rewarding part of leading more than a dozen Rooftop Auctions? "Coming to PTA meetings and seeing how the money we raised translated into jump ropes for Sensory Motor…actually seeing the money be spent and going to the kids," Desuyo says without missing a beat. "That was very, very rewarding."