The St. Louis U. High Si Commons were transformed into an extravagant dining room this past weekend. Seniors wore elegant tuxedos as they greeted guests, juniors and sophomores sported Billiken blue bow ties and carried platters of food, and freshmen lined the surrounding halls collecting dirty dishes. At the 53rd annual Cashbah, St. Louis U. High raised more than $1.4 million, marking tremendous success for the first in-person auction in three years.

“Being back on campus, being together, the energy in the room was fantastic,” said SLUH President Alan Carruthers. “There was just a real vibe in the room that was super positive, and I think that helped us to be successful in the evening because when people feel good about something, they want to support it.”

Cashbah spent the past two years online as Covid prevented in-person gatherings of such crowds. This year, the planning committee prepared for the worst and hoped for the best. In the end, they got the best of both worlds: a hybrid experience with nearly 680 guests in the room and about 750 guests joining online for silent auctions.

“We could never have 1400 or 1500 people at SLUH, so that's almost doubling the size of the event, just by being able to share Cashbah on a link,” said Director of Alumni and Parent Giving John Penilla.

Cashbah was founded in 1969 by then President Richard Bailey, SJ. Bailey turned his passion for restoring antiques into a fundraising opportunity for the school, and Cashbah was born. As the need for financial aid has increased over the past decade, Cashbah has become a major source for financial aid donations.

“We keep doing it because the need keeps growing,” said Carruthers. “Ten years ago, we were probably in the high 20 percents of boys receiving financial aid. Now we're in the high 40s.”

At its heart, Cashbah aims to raise money for the 47 percent of  Jr. Bills who receive financial aid as part of SLUH’s need-blind admission process.  In addition to auctioning off items, Cashbah includes the Fund-A-Bill program, where attendees can directly donate to the Financial Aid program. This year’s Fund-a-Need raised over $477,000, surpassing its goal of $450,000.

“That's mind-blowing,” said Carruthers. “That's spectacular, and it's a true testament to how much our greater community and alumni really believe in what we're doing here.”

Due to the drastic changes that Cashbah was forced to make quickly and nimbly, the Zoom option of participation was utilized to its fullest extent this year.  

“Some years we've had way more than 680,” said Penilla. “That wasn't necessarily a Covid thing, Covid gave us the change where we had to do two years of virtual, giving us the opportunity to think about what we would do differently when we come back. What will Cashbah look like? Almost 700 people in the room is still a really full room, but it's not everybody squeezed in the room.”

In addition to the hybrid option, other changes were made for the first in-person Cashbah since the pandemic struck in early 2020.  One of these changes consisted of decreasing the total number of live auctions from approximately 35 in 2019 to only eight live auctions this year. In turn, the cut down on bidding time led to a broader window for attendees to socialize, increase fellowship, and have fun in a more informal manner than what was previously experienced. 

Cashbah attendees were greeted by hospitable SLUH students, upperclassmen along with underclassmen, and welcomed by the jovial MCs of the event: Fr. Matt Stewart, SJ, Spanish teacher Kate Toussaint, and Penilla.

“It was a really fun night, there was really good energy in the room and everyone is there for really good reasons and a good cause—it just felt like a really wonderful event,” said Toussaint. 

Dinner followed the welcome ceremony, and the auction aspect of Cashbah followed by presenting the first five live auction items, which ranged from Labrador puppies to weekend getaways in Innsbrook and were generously bid on.

Proceeding the initial live auctions, a group of Jr. Bills enthusiastically ran onto the stage painted in Jr. Bill blue and sporting the SLUH flag, led by Prep News Editor in Chief Jack Figge and Student Body President A.J. Thompson. 

“They helped us by running into the room and I hope that was a memorable moment for the attendees, which was awesome,” said John Penilla. 

After the abundant donations to the Fund-A-Bill program, the remaining three live auction items were put up for bidding. The night then concluded with a party where attendees had time to talk amongst themselves and rejoice in the rich SLUH community.

A successful Cashbah would never be possible without the tireless efforts of parent and student volunteers, as well as the various sponsors for Cashbah. 

Co-chairs Nancy Tice and Sara Buehring coordinated an extremely complete and successful Cashbah despite the short window of time to prepare due to the school’s recent shift to condition one in its Covid protocols. 

“One of the biggest responsibilities is just making sure the team works and has fun along the way,” said Tice. “We really tried to make sure that everybody had fun. Parents are finally back at SLUH, so going into it, a lot of people had never, especially freshmen and sophomore parents, even been able to volunteer at SLUH. We wanted to just make it a great experience for everyone.”

Bringing this vast network of parents, friends, alumni, and sponsors together paid off. After a hectic and scattered two years, the 53rd annual Cashbah was once again a success for SLUH.

“It takes a village, right? It takes all those people. None of us are an island, we don't do this by ourselves,” said Carruthers. “Cashbah really is a collective exercise at St. Louis University High, and it always has been.”