In December 1993, St. Matthew’s resident Alan Lewis, decided to have a party in his basement.  He asked everyone he invited to bring a new or used winter coat to donate to the homeless.  Alan provided the kegs and a friend’s band provided the tunes and a good time was had by all.  The next day, Alan delivered all the donated coats to the local homeless shelter, Wayside Christian Mission.  Thus was born the 1st annual “Coat Party”.  Little did Alan know that this “Coat Party” would still be going strong 14 years later and grossing more than $25,000 per party for local charities.

After the 3rd Annual Coat Party, Alan decided it was time to move the party to a larger venue.  In the summer of 1996, he asked a dozen or so of his diverse group of friends if they wanted to participate in the 4th Annual Coat Party to be held in December at the Aero Club (a local flying club at Bowman Field).

To help establish the group’s credibility, Alan wanted to come up with a name that would be fun, yet self-explanatory.  He thought of CABO because it could be used as the acronym for Charity and Benefit Organization.  Then, someone else chimed in that CABO WABO was easy to remember.  All we had to do was make WABO stand for something.  “We’re All Better Off” was the first thing suggested and it went hand in hand with our mission statement: CABO WABO was founded as a fund raising organization to benefit local charities. Our mission is to provide quality entertainment in a festive atmosphere, which will in turn provide monetary resources for the needy. By promoting these charities, our goal is to gain public awareness for the less fortunate and to provide them with material goods and a financial conduit for their cause.

With a name, a goal, and our mission statement we forged ahead.  We passed out our signature canary yellow invitations to our friends and hoped for the best.  Although a crowd of about 300 was expected, over 500 people attended the first official CABO WABO Coat Party and the rest is history.

That first CABO WABO party was such a success, we decided to make it a semi-annual event.  In June of each year we have the Spring Fling and in December, we have the Coat Party.  Prior to each party, we interview local charities and choose a partner for that upcoming party.  The members of CABO WABO handle all the details of the party leading up the night of the event then the charity takes over.  They show up with about 40 volunteers and work the actual party.  They handle all the money and they receive 100% of the proceeds.