St. Bede the Venerable School held its annual benefit, BedeFest Derby 2024, on Saturday, April 20 at the University Club of Pasadena. With nearly 300 guests in attendance representing the areas of La Cañada, La Crescenta, Pasadena, Glendale, Eagle Rock among others, the event featured a festive evening of dinner and dancing, plus silent and live auctions, a lively paddle raise, gaming tables and raffle. One of the highlights of the evening’s live auction was of a Yorkshire Terrier puppy that brought lots of smiles and attention as well as raising some significant funds. Proceeds from the night support the school’s recent expansions in science, math, language arts and technology curriculum, as well as its art, Spanish (foreign language) and enrichment programming. 

The “paddle raise” portion of the evening raised significant funding specifically to support new athletics equipment including basketball hoops, volleyball nets and a scoreboard, which will be housed in the new middle school regulation size gymnasium currently in construction as part of the parish’s ANEW capital campaign for its new parish hall, which will serve as an extension of the school.

“As chair of this fundraiser, I am inspired by the incredible spirit of giving that our community has shown. Every contribution, big or small, makes a significant impact on our students and school community,” said Event Chair Andrea Moore. 

“We are thrilled with the way the evening turned out,” added Co-Chair Sarah Coker. “It was such a collaborative effort of our dedicated school families.”

St. Bede the Venerable School is a co-educational Catholic learning community that seeks to empower children through faith development and academic excellence. Serving children from transitional kindergarten – grade eight, the school provides superior academics that ranks in the top 5% of all Los Angeles Archdiocese schools, with a mission is to educate mind, body and spirit – building the next great generation of leaders with a strong moral compass and sense of community.

Since 1952, St. Bede has served the local community as a highly-respected Catholic grammar school. With a vibrant, highly-invested community, multiple generations within the same family often attend the church and school. Today, while remaining true to the original foundational values, the school continues to invest in modern tools and educational concepts that ensure its students receive the highest level of whole child education.