High tea surpasses goals
The annual event is a fundraiser for the Interfaith Emergency Services shelter program for homeless women and children.
Karla Greenway, Sonya Tyler and Jessica Vega, left to right, pose together during the Interfaith Emergency Services Ladies High Tea at the UF Extension Auditorium in Ocala, Fla. on Saturday, May 17, 2025. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2025.
The stunning fashions! The fancy hats! The over-the-top table decorations! The amount of money raised! The annual Interfaith Emergency Services High Tea did indeed engender lots of exclamation marks (see more below)!
This once-a-year fundraiser has steadily grown in attendance—and glitz—over its nine years as well as in how important it is to local women and children experiencing homelessness.
Interfaith, as it is most commonly known, is a leading nonprofit that helps people throughout Ocala and Marion County. The CEO is Karla Greenway, who also is the organizing hostess behind the high tea. To make the event happen, she invites table hostesses to recruit family members and friends to not only conceive an elaborate table setting scheme but to also raise much-needed dollars for Interfaith programs.
The invitation to the hostesses stated: “Challenge your table to raise a minimum of $500, with a goal of at least $1,000. The most successful table will be crowned with the prestigious Golden Teapot Award.”
This year’s event took place on May 17 in the UF/IFAS Extension auditorium at the Southeastern Livestock Pavilion in Ocala.
“Interfaith’s ninth annual High Tea exceeded all expectations! The tea hostesses created the most beautiful and imaginative tables, and we reached a benchmark we have been striving for since the inception, with Jennifer Arvantis’ table exceeding $10,000 in fundraising!” Greenway said enthusiastically via email on May 19.
“And a new record was set that far surpassed our wildest dreams. Cynthia Tieche and her team with Recharge Clinic raised over $20,000 to take the Golden Teapot home!” she added.
“But the most beautiful aspect of the event was that the 25 table hostesses collectively raised more than $80,000 in donations to support the Interfaith shelter program that transforms the lives of women and children experiencing homelessness!” she shared.
“It took every one of the ladies participating to accomplish such a wonderful result,” Greenway continued. “It was literally a ‘beautiful’ picture of community coming together for the greater good.”
To learn more, go to iesmarion.org
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