Fundraising Events

Unique Events Designed to Empower Our Mission

Each year Kara presents our annual spring fundraiser. From sit-down galas to afternoon receptions with live music, auctions, raffles, and celebrated authors, our events are both inspiring and fun and most importantly raise funds to deliver our grief support services.

2026 Spring Fundraiser - IT'S OKAY TO LAUGH!

Featuring Don Reed, Comedian and Storyteller.

Saturday April 25, 3:30pm - 7:30pm
Oshman Family JCC, Palo Alto, CA

Join us for a night of lighthearted connections and uplifting humor at Kara’s Spring Fundraiser It’s Okay to Laugh! Celebrate our community of HOPE and nearly 50 years of Kara’s compassionate care for those who are grieving. Be there on Saturday April 25th at the Oshman Family JCC in Palo Alto for a captivating night of fun and fundraising!

Don Reed, our guest comedian and teller of tales, shares a meaningful observation: “Laughter and storytelling are the keys to human connection.” Don will inspire us with humor by telling his captivating life stories and heartfelt remembrances that are sometimes hilarious, sometimes poignant, but always profoundly true.

Let’s honor our loved ones, embrace healing, and make new joy-filled memories while donating the critical funds to sustain Kara’s mission.

Tickets available March 13th

Click Here or on the image below to Visit Our Event Site and Purchase Tickets!

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2023 Fundraiser

A special thanks to Litsa Williams, MA,LCSW-C, Co-Founder and Program Director of What's Your Grief? for her thoughtful presentation, How We Grieve: What I’ve Unlearned About Living Life After Loss. Thank you for everyone who participated in our 2023 fundraiser to support the bereaved in our community. Over $175,000 was given in support of Kara's crucial mission!

2024 Spring Fundraiser - Save the Date!

Featuring Claire Bidwell Smith, LCPC, therapist, international speaker and author of five books published in 22 countries.

Saturday May 4th, 4:00pm - 7:30pm
Mitchell Park Community Center, Palo Alto, CA

Join us with your friends, family and colleagues for our annual spring fundraiser where you will have the privilege of hearing Claire speak and receive a copy of her newest book Conscious Grieving: A Transformative Approach to Healing From Loss, and an opportunity to support the important services Kara provides for our community through our Raffles and Games, Luxury Travel Silent Auction, and Fund-a-Need Auction.

Click Here to Visit Our Event Site and Purchase Tickets!

If you are interested in volunteering for this special event, please contact us using our Contact Form

As a 501(c)(3) non-profit Kara is eligible to accept bequests. Please consider including Kara in your will or trust. Our federal identification number is 94-2431483. Contact us at 650-321-5272.

2022 Fundraiser - Celebrating 45 Years of Care

Featuring Dr. Lucy Kalanithi

Held on Saturday April 30th, 5:30pm - 9:00pm
Oshman Family Jewish Community Center, Palo Alto

Dr. Kalanithi is a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at Stanford University and an advocate for culture change around healthcare value. She is the widow of Dr. Paul Kalanithi, author of the #1 New York Times-bestselling memoir When Breath Becomes Air, which was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and translated into more than 40 languages, and for which she wrote the epilogue. A graduate of the Yale School of Medicine, the University of California-San Francisco’s Internal Medicine Residency and a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford’s Clinical Excellence Research Center, Dr. Kalanithi is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha national medical honor society and an honoree of Mass General Cancer Center’s “the one hundred” and Stanford’s Medical Staff Awards. She has implemented novel healthcare delivery models in primary care, hospitals and health systems, and she serves on leadership boards for TEDMED, the Coalition to Transform Advanced Care and the American College of Physicians. She has appeared on stage at TEDMED, on NPR, PBS Newshour, and Yahoo News with Katie Couric, and in The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Elle and The New York Times. Her award-winning podcast, Gravity, explores narratives of suffering.

2021 Virtual Spring Fundraiser - Thank You to All Participants!

Kara's annual spring event raises important funds which provide accessible healing services to bereaved children and adults in the Bay Area. Challenged by the current COVID-19 pandemic climate, those who are grieving need care and connection more than ever. Last year's event, entitled, Connections that Heal was a weekend long virtual online experience from April 22nd thru 25th to provide giving opportunities in support of Kara's mission.

Check back here soon for information about our upcoming 2022 Spring Fundraiser!

The Enduring Power of Memories

Featuring Emmy award-winning journalist Allison Gilbert

Saturday April 25th, 4pm - 7pm
Oshman Family Jewish Community Center, Palo Alto
Purchase Your Tickets Here!

Allison Gilbert is an Emmy award-winning journalist and one of the most thought-provoking and influential writers on grief and resilience. The author of numerous books including the groundbreaking, Passed and Present: Keeping Memories of Loved Ones Alive, her stirring work exposes the secret and essential factor for harnessing loss to drive happiness and rebound from adversity. She serves on the Board of Directors for the National Alliance for Grieving Children and the Advisory Board for the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, the preeminent national organization providing grief support to families of America’s fallen heroes.

So bring out your friends, family and colleagues for this special late afternoon fundraiser where you will have the privilege of hearing Allison speak and an opportunity to support the important services Kara provides for our community through our Jumbo Raffles, Live Auction and Impact Giving. Buy Your Tickets Today
Visit our event site and buy your tables and tickets today at 'early bird' prices through March 11th.
If you are interested in volunteering or serving on our planning committee for this special event, please contact us using our Contact Form

Eight Days of Impact Giving

A virtual fundraiser for our crucial grief support services for the community. We'll begin the event with a keynote video interview with Allison Gilbert, followed by daily highlight videos of Kara's services. You can make an impact gift as well as participate in our two silent auctions, all to directly fund Kara's outreach to the bereaved.

2020 Virtual Fundraiser - Learn More! - hidden

2016 Spring Fundraiser

Saturday May 14th - 4pm

Thank you to everyone who participated and made our event a great success! View our Facebook Photo Album of the Event and watch Dr. Feldman's presentation and Chelsea's sharing about her Kara experience below.

SuperSurvivors

Mitchell Park Community Center, Palo Alto, CA

Featuring guest speakers and award winning author David B. Feldman, PhD., of the book SuperSurvivors - The Surprising Link between Suffering and Success.

You can also view pictures of our 2015 event, My Yellow Balloon Live! on our Facebook Page Event Photo Album

Thank you to everyone who participated and made our 40th Anniversary Celebration & Fundraiser in 2017 a great success! A special thanks to guest speaker Sheryl Sandberg for her poignant and inspiring words about choosing Option B. View our Facebook Photo Album of the Event and watch the highlight video of inspiring evening below.

2020 Spring Fundraiser

Kara's annual spring event raises important funds which provide accessible healing services to bereaved children and adults in the Bay Area. Challenged by the current COVID-19 pandemic climate, those who are grieving need care and connection more than ever. In lieu of our planned live event scheduled for April 25th we are hosting a virtual online experience from May 2nd thru 9th to provide impact giving opportunities in support of Kara's mission.

2018 Spring Fundraiser - Both Sides Now

Thank you to everyone who participated and made our 2018 Spring Fundraiser a huge success. We were honored to feature award-winning author Nancy Sharp of the memoir Both Sides Now: A True Story of Love, Loss, and Bold Living and the children’s book Because the Sky is Everywhere. Her warm and genuine presentation style inspired us all as she spoke about needing to "hold life and death" in the same moment ~ living "Both Sides Now."

View our photo album of the event.

Thank you to everyone who participated and made our 2019 Spring Fundraiser a huge success. We were honored to feature Dr. Garfield as he spoke on Life's Greatest Gift - Love and A Life Well Lived. His message was inspiring and meaningful in reminding us to care deeply for others, to listen intently and be fully present in our one-to-one relationships. Deep and honest personal connections allow us to build a web of connectivity in human relationships that can help sustain us in difficult times. Through the generosity of all who supported our event, over $135,000 was raised to empower Kara's healing services; ensuring care, compassion, connection, and community are available for the bereaved. It was truly a fundraiser to celebrate and remember! View our photo album of the event and watch our highlight video.