Recap: Spring Fling 2025!

Summary of Events

Held on Saturday, April 12, 2025 at the American Legion Women's Auxiliary #186, the 2025 Spring Fling was a night to remember! Returning this year were The Wayward Bills to perform live music, and food from Toast RVA, Catering by Eat, BK's Loaded Kitchen, Nancy's Cookies, and La Cucina! The menu included hits like barbeque sliders, shrimp and grits, cashew fried rice, macaroni and cheese, and an impressive beer and wine selection.

Volunteer Ava serving food to guests

Over 30 hand-curated silent auction baskets lined the walls of the venue, all of which were sold to the highest bidder! The highest selling baskets this year included the Membership Club basket (a free 3-month membership to Common House), the Romantic Getaway basket (1 night stay at the Quirk hotel, a Tuscan Currant candle, desserts and cocktails at Chez Fouzee, a bottle of De Saint-Gall Premier Cru champagne, champagne glasses from Creme de la Creme, and a box of truffles from For the Love of Chocolate), and an original art piece by live artist Zach Barnard.

Some of the silent auction baskets this year!

We had several new additions to the fundraiser this year, which added a special, intimate touch to the event!

First, we added a live artist, similar to what you would find at a wedding! Zach Barnard, a local Richmond artist whose work has been featured in several art exhibits and a variety of online and print publications, was gracious to donate his time.

Final painting and happy silent auction winner

Second, we presented awards to honor several volunteers and mentors. G2W-VA would be nothing if not for the invaluable work of our volunteer leaders, mentors and engagement of our mentees. We celebrated their time and dedication to the program, and their contributions to changing lives of teen girls in the Richmond area.

Our 2025 honorees are as follows:

• Administrator of the Year Award: Helen Montgomery, Dean of Students at Goochland Middle School.

Helen Montgomery and Goochland Mentors Diamoneke Tynes and Areannaa Wilson

• School of the Year Award: Hopewell High School

Southside Coordinator, Frenchi Jones; Hopewell HS Coordinator, Ms. Debbie Wallace; students and parent

• High School Mentee of the Year Award: Mikayla Pearson (Hopewell High School)

Mikayla Pearson, High School Mentee of the Year

• Middle School Mentee of the Year Award: Lilly Simms (Colonial Heights)

Lilly Simms, Middle School Mentee of the Year

• Middle School Mentee of the Year Award: Samantha Clark (Colonial Heights)

Samantha Clark (pictured in all black), Middle School Mentee of the Year, and her family

• Mentor of the Year Award: Tiana Johnson (N.B. Clements)

Tiana Johnson and guest

• MENTOR of the Year Award: Sarah Bondurant (Tomahawk Middle School)

Sarah Bondurant (right), Mentor of the Year, Chesterfield region

• Certificate of Appreciation: 244th Quartermaster Battalion, Alpha Company

  
  
  
  

  

  244th Quartermaster Battalion, Alpha Company

  
  

  Our last new addition this year was our Spring Bonnet competition! Donned in their Spring bonnets, the ladies who participated in the competition paraded around the venue, showing off their creations. Two ladies with the most extravagantly decorated hats took home cash prizes!

  
  

  

  Ladies who participated in the Spring Bonnet competition

  
  

We are elated to announce that G2W-VA met our fundraising goal of $15,000!

The Spring Fling Fundraiser is a testament to the power of community, and clear display of the heights that can be reached when communities unite to enact positive change. We would not have reached our fundraising goal if not for the mentors, mentees, sponsors/donors, and community partners who supported us for this event; whether you purchased a ticket for yourself or someone else to attend, donated an item(s), lent your time, or simply sent your best wishes, Spring Fling 2025 reached our goal because of YOU!

There is no such thing as too many hands in the pot when it came to planning and executing this event, and to say we are grateful is an understatement. Here are the specific people we want to thank:

Acknowledgements

• Spring Fling 2025 Committee Members

  • Johanna Vanarsdall - Chair. Thank you to Johanna for being our leading lady this year! She keep us organized and focused on our central mission, which was to make Spring Fling even better than it was last year.

  • Rhonda Griffin - Vice Chair. Thank you to Rhonda for being our fundraising and networking champion! Her ability to network connected us with a lot of great sponsors/donors for the event.

  • Jo Downey - Vice Chair. Thank you to Jo for her eye for beauty! Jo is the reason the venue looked stunning. Her interior decorating skills made the Spring season come to life for this event.

  • Minh Jurgens - Committee Member. Thank you to Minh for her detailed oriented contributions, ticket sales, and elbow grease!

  • Frenchi Jones - Committee Member. Thank you to Frenchi for her creativity and attention to detail. Frenchi spearheaded the awards presentation, a much needed addition. She also facilitated the help of the troop from Fort Gregg-Adams, who were instrumental in helping us set the venue up.

  • Cedricka Alexander - Committee Member. Thank you to Cedricka for leading the marketing efforts for this event.

• Spring Fling 2025 Sponsors - Thank you to our sponsors, whose monetary support made the event possible!

  • Jamie Strum from The Strum Group, Long & Foster

  • Shannon Montsinger from Montsinger Talent and Entertainment

  • Abbey Wright from Front Porch Partners

  • Larry and Alan King from Larry King Realty

  • Chris Weller of Edward Jones

  • Poole and Poole Architecture

  • Danielle Bumarch

Spring Fling 2025 sponsors

• Spring Fling 2025 Food Sponsors - Thank you to our food sponsors, who provided the delicious food enjoyed by attendees!

  • Toast

  • Nancy's Cookies

  • Catering by Eat

  • La Cucina

  • BK's Loaded Kitchen

    
    

• Spring Fling 2025 Performers - Thank you to our performers, who provided live entertainment at the event!

  • The Wayward Bills - live music

  • Zach Barnard - live artist

    
    

• Spring Fling 2025 Volunteers - Thank you to the amazing volunteers who helped us set up and serve at the event!

  • 244th Quartermaster Battalion

  • Our family and friends, including Ava, Abagail, Thomas, Devon, Zoe, Chloe, Charlie, and Charlotte

    
    

• Spring Fling 2025 Silent Auction and Raffle Donors - Thank you to the numerous businesses, both big and small, who donated gift cards and items for our silent auction and raffle.

  
  

• Spring Fling 2025 Speaker - Thank you to Steve Martin for his powerful words at the event, and enduring belief in our cause. Steve and the Board of the Boys to Men Mentoring of Virginia team have supported G2W-VA from the genesis of our organization, and we are grateful for the many ways they have showed up for us!

  
  

  Thank you all again for your support of G2W-VA! We look forward to making Spring Fling 2026 even more monumental than its predecessors!

  
  

  

  Girls2Women-VA Board: Left to Right - Minh Jurgens, Frenchi Jones (Southside Coordinator), Jo Downey, Johanna VanArsdall, Teresa Woodroof, Steve Martin (Boys to Men VA), Lynn Anderson, Rhonda Griffin, Cedricka Alexander, (Louise Lockett-Gordon, not pictured)