EMQ Children & Family Services’ Event Raises Funding for Addiction Prevention in Local Schools

SAN JOSE, Calif. (Business Wire EON) May 28, 2008 -- EMQ Children & Family Services’ “Great Silicon Valley Caper” event (www.greatsiliconvalleycaper.org) was a success on April 27. The event captured the excitement of local residents and businesses while raising money to fund addiction prevention programs in local schools. The six secret clue sites were Baker’s Square (www.bakerssquarerestaurants.com) on Almaden Expressway, Beshoff Motorcars (www.beshoffmotorcars.com), the Monopoly game at Discovery Meadow Park (www.grpg.org/DiscoveryMeadow.html), Magnolia Home Theater and Video (www.magnoliaav.com), the Municipal Rose Garden of San Jose (www.sjparks.org/Parks/RegionalParks/rose/RoseGarden.asp), and The Tech Museum of Innovation (www.thetech.org).

With over 140 super sleuths working in teams, characters of pirates, old-timer gangsters and go-go dancers converged into limos and began solving clues at the “top secret” sites around San Jose. The competitive spirit was in the air as some teams attempted to bribe volunteers at the sites for clues so that they could beat their competitors—getting the answers at all costs.

At the life-size Monopoly board at San Jose’s Discovery Meadow Park, team members had to answer trivia questions about the Parker Brothers game (www.hasbro.com/games/kid-games/monopoly/) then roll the dice to play a very abbreviated version of the game. Teams randomly drew Monopoly property cards at registration and played for points versus the standard rent money. Properties not assigned at the beginning were auctioned off to the highest bidder prior to the hunt, with Boardwalk fetching $325!

"Comerica Bank was proud to participate this year in the Great Silicon Valley Caper fund raiser for EMQ Children & Family Services' Addiction Prevention Services. We were especially pleased to be the Site Sponsor for the life-sized Monopoly in the Park location where participants donned oversized game-piece hats and rolled gigantic dice to advance around the board. Congratulations to EMQ on a great event!" said Chris Bhirdo, vice president, Western Market, Comerica Bank.

Magnolia Home Theater on Winchester Boulevard showed 20 second clips of Oscar-winning movies. The teams had to guess the title of the movies and years each had won the Academy Award for best picture. All clips had to be identified before the team received the clue to the next site. In addition to relaxing in Magnolia’s luxurious home theater, teams were able to enjoy eating pies from Baker’s Square as they had to perform blind taste tests to get the next clues. At the Rose Garden, each team was required to find four rose beds based on a photo clue, plot them on a map of the garden and then connect them drawing two lines with the intersection being the answer for the next clue. Teams were also able to try daring stunts at the Tech Museum where they could choose a team member to do the Jet Pack Chair and Whack-a-Spam attractions for extra points while counting the number of cookbooks that make up a giant DNA model.

First place winners in the Scotland Yard division were Stratton Sclavos and his team. In the Inspector Gadget division, Geoffrey Thomas and crew placed first. Best Costume was awarded to the “Ellery Queens” who were decked out in tiaras, boas and regal attire and led by Maribeth Benham.

Site sponsors and major donors for the event included Alhambra Water, Beshoff Motorcars, Comerica Bank, Diamond Quality Printing, Hayes Mansion/Dolce Corporate, NBC-11, Roger Barney and Associates, and Sysco Corporation.

The moneys raised during this event will go to educate kids about the dangers of pill-swapping and alcohol abuse through EMQ’s Addiction Prevention Services programs in local schools.

About EMQ

EMQ Children & Family Services helps kids in crisis. The private, nonprofit is nationally recognized for its innovative, family-centered programs that help children recover from issues such as severe depression, thoughts of suicide, or drug abuse. The private nonprofit helps more than 6,600 children and their family members every year through programs like Family Finding, Wraparound, support and educational services. Headquartered in Campbell, California, EMQ Children & Family Services has programs in Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Bernardino and Santa Clara counties. More information on EMQ can be found at http://www.emq.org.

EDITORS NOTE: Photos from the event can be viewed at www.greatsiliconvalleycaper.org.

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