by Diane Claytor
Looking for something fun to do? Want to try a new restaurant, visit a new museum, enjoy a new performing art? How about a round of golf, a Bay cruise or soaring over the scenic beauty of San Francisco in a private plane? Do you live in the San 
Francisco Bay Area but are getting tired of the same old activities? Or maybe you’re planning a trip to the area and are looking for something different and interesting to do. Wouldn’t it be great to know that while you’re having a fun time, you’re also doing something really good, bringing joy and happiness to thousands of underserved children in the Bay Area? Diablo Ballet is offering you both. But it’s for a short time only so you’d better start your search now!
Twenty-two years ago, when Lauren Jonas co-founded Diablo Ballet, one of her goals was to offer programs for local children who might not otherwise have the opportunity to experience dance. In fact, the Ballet’s Mission Statement includes this as a listed purpose: “To support youth by using the arts to teach in-school lessons of self esteem, group process and, most profoundly, the joy of artistic expression.” Diablo Ballet’s PEEK program (Performing Arts Education and Enrichment for Kids) has successfully accomplished this, reaching over 65,000 diverse school children throughout the local community with its in-school movement classes and free dance performances, as well as teenage girls incarcerated within the California juvenile justice system. These programs are funded through a myriad of sources, one of which is the annual auction, conducted in conjunction with the Diablo Ballet’s anniversary gala, this year scheduled for March 17.
Some wonderful items are being auctioned off – meals, lodging, theater, museum passes, fitness activities, sightseeing trips, even a new hairdo or a day at Disneyland — and all monies go to the PEEK program. So get busy. Go to biddingforgood.com 
(https://www.biddingforgood.com/auction/search/search.action?search=&query=diablo+ballet) Find something fun to do and know that you’re helping young children experience something extraordinary.
Does any of this sound like fun? Something you want to do?
Park Hopper Tickets for both Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park.- How about museums: You can find tickets to the Exploratorium, California Academy of Sciences, Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco, Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa and Hiller Aviation Museum.
- Museums aren’t your thing? Well, what about tickets for a performance at 42nd Street Moon Mainstage; Eureka Theatre in San Francisco; ACT (American Conservatory Theater); BATS Improv Theatre; Beach Blanket Babylon; or The Lamplighters production of the comic and cheerful “The Mikado.”
- Need a little more culture? You can get tickets to Marin Shakespeare Company; Marin Symphony; the 2016 Merola Grand Finale, which is the culminating event of the Merola Opera Program; San Francisco Ballet; or San Francisco Symphony’s performance of Beethoven’s Symphony #2.
- Looking for something with a little more action? That’s available too: 2 bicycles or one tandem bike to ride through Sonoma and Napa Valley Bike Tours; tickets to NASCAR at Sonoma Raceway; golf at Little River Inn; or skiing at Sugar Bowl
- Want to take the kids out for a fun time? How about admission to Gilroy Gardens Family Theme Park; Happy Hollow Park & Zoo; family membership to the Lindsay Wildlife Experience; Walt Disney Family Museum; or jumping fun at Rockin’ Jump, an enormous arena of stretchy trampolines, elastic arenas, and soft foam blocks.
- There are relaxing getaways: Atlantis Casino Resort Spa in Reno; Healdsburg’s Camellia Inn; Garden Court Hotel in Palo Alto; Walnut Creek’s Marriott; Hotel Triton in San Francisco; Hyatt Regency in Sacramento or Hyatt House in Pleasant Hill; Napa’s Meritage Resort; Renaissance Club Sport.
- How about enjoying the beauty of the Bay Area on a Blue and Gold Fleet bay cruise or a private San Francisco Bay Tour from the air!
- Think about pampering yourself – or someone you love. Get a style consultation from C2 Style Consulting; workouts at Curves or Forma Gym; new hairdo from diPietro Todd Salons; pilates training at Fit Studio; portrait photography from Thomas Fallon; or a luxurious body treatment at SkinSpirit Skincare Clinic and Spa or The Studio.
- And finally, since no one should go hungry, there are delicious food items from We Olive, Amici’s East Coast Pizzeria, Buckhorn Grill, Kerry’s Cookies, Neiman Marcus, Sunol Ridge, San Francisco Creamery and SemiFreddi’s
New listings are being added frequently. You don’t want to miss your opportunity to bid on the items you want. The auction closes at 11:59 p.m. on March 15 so time is running out. Act quickly. Go to https://www.biddingforgood.com/auction/search/search.action?search=&query=diablo+ballet and put in your bid for the items you want. And then check back frequently to see what’s new.