Q: What fundraiser had guests singing, dancing and laughing on stage?

A: Click! International Bipolar Foundation’s fun, interactive game show was their fund raiser this year.

Twenty-seven “Table Captains” rallied their teams of ten, gave themselves team names, and arrived at the Del Mar Fairgrounds for an evening packed with fun. Greeted outside the entrance by our very own San Diego Derby Dolls, guests first entered the colorful pre-game room complete with delectable food stations, bars serving Clickmopolitans in glowing cosmo glasses, and game show signs announcing the teams names. (Sugar Babies, StigmaBusters, PsycareDelics, Manic Mammas, Polar Opposites, etc.). Some teams decorated their tables with clappers and pom poms, others wore lights in their hair while still others came dressed as their team name suggested, such as The Jokers Wild team who came dressed as poker playing cowboys!

At 7:15 sharp the curtains opened and guests filtered into the Click! game show set. Within minutes, teams began competing in a fun and interactive manner as they clicked their clickers answering trivia questions, Name That Tune, Survey Says, and other games. After each round of ten questions, the top five teams sent a representative to the stage where they faced off in a Karaoke challenge belting out songs like Party Like a Rock Star or dancing to songs from the past five decades.

One challenge included a scavenger hunt where team reps raced around the room collecting items in order to garner the winning points. Items included a bald man with a mustache, an expired credit card, a black shoe lace, a person over 69, and a $5 bill with a serial number ending in a J. The competition was stiff as we witnessed one rep write the letter J on her bill!

The event, although a lot of fun, had a serious mission as well; to raise funds for bipolar disorder research and awareness of the illness. Questions about the disorder were included in the trivia and sets of cards about bipolar were scattered on each table. Dr Ilyas Singec, the 2009 $50,000 research award recipient, spoke briefly about the impact of his research studying the generation of neuronal glial cell types for brain repair and disease modeling by using iPS cells from patients with bipolar disorder. Both Dr. Singec and Dr. Reed (the organization’s Scientific Advisory Board co-chair) generously donated internships in their labs to the evening’s auction.

Over $90,000 was raised at Click! both from Fund-a-Cure and the auction which included VIP Padres Dugout seats, stays in the Bahamas, Deer Valley, Orlando, and Del Mar, private dinners and wine receptions at the Grand Del Mar Hotel, Market Restaurant and Coast Catering, and a couture designed gown by Malgorzata Couture. In fact, our very own “Vanna”, AKA Emma Ransom, modeled several of the gowns which ultimately fetched $2200 from the lucky bidder.

A fun night was had by all with most already scheming their win for next year. Said one guest, the Executive Director for a local non-profit, “You did one AWESOME job on Click – it was unbelievable.  I have been to hundreds of fundraisers and that took the prize for the best!”

View more photos here!