Not Toying Around: Happy Hour Brings Smiles to Kids

Tonight, the creators of Yuppie Friday are holding their 2nd annual Holiday Happy Hour Toy Drive.

Last year, they gathered eight barrels of toys and thousands of dollars in donations in just three hours for the San Francisco Firefighters Toy Program.

Creator Jordan Angel tells me the program’s shelves were bare just days before Christmas and the toys brought smiles to hundreds of kids in the bay area.

The event gives you a chance to smile too … and not just in the warm-and-fuzzy, do-gooder kind of way.

For just $15, you have the chance to mingle with young professionals during a live DJ set at Vessel. That includes two drink coupons and a new Facebook profile pic opportunity in front of an antique fire truck.

If you bring a new unwrapped toy, you get raffle tickets for prizes ranging from designer purses to wine and Apple products.

The fact that Yuppy Friday routinely sells out events is proof positive you’ll have a good time. Every event supports a different charity and Angel says he has a long waiting list of charities and sponsors.

It's come a long way from the ‘friends of friends’ events that kicked it all off. He calls the success a snowball effect.

“People will come to support a charitable organization they are familiar with, enjoy the event, and come back to our next event which is in support of another organization which in turn introduces charitable minded people to new causes and organizations,” says Angel.

DOIN’ IT WELL:
The event starts at 5:30pm and wraps up after 8. Feel free to be fashionably late, but get there early enough make the most of the networking time. Connections made at the event have turned into jobs, so make sure to bring business cards in addition to your toy donation. Can’t make tonight? Don’t sweat it. They hold a new happy hour every few months. Just check out their website.

Marika Krause is a news producer for NBC Bay Area. She loves exploring all the bay area has to offer and writing about those adventures as the Around the Bay Girl.

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