Friends of the Desert Mountains will hold its Friends and Champions fundraiser next Wednesday at Silver Rock Park in La Quinta, a three-hour outdoor dinner meant to pay for the nonprofit's conservation, education and research work across the Coachella Valley.
The evening runs from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 18 at 51900 Silver Rock Way, MyNewsLA.com reported. Tickets start at $200. Organizers said proceeds will support land conservation, education, outdoor experiences, research and stewardship.
A $200 dinner for free hikes
The price is the practical mechanism. On its Friends and Champions page, the organization calls the gathering its annual celebration of people and partnerships making a difference for the Coachella Valley, and says a ticket purchase supports work to protect desert lands, inspire the next generation through outdoor education and connect more people to the natural world.
That last part is not abstract. In its 2025 impact report, covered by KESQ, Friends said it offered 502 free public hikes and talks that year. The paid night is how a lot of the free calendar gets underwritten.
Welk's house, a kid's painting
Dinner comes with live and silent auctions, and the announced lots are a small study in Coachella Valley taste. One is a customized electric-bike tour along the Coachella Valley Link. Another is a private tour and reception at Lawrence Welk's former residence, timed before next year's Modernism Week. The third is an original signed oil painting by a 12-year-old artist who won the youth art contest at the Coachella Valley Wildflower Festival earlier this year.
A bandleader's old house and a child's contest painting, both on the block for desert land. The bidding menu is doing more work than the invitation copy.
What 2025 actually produced
The same impact report put numbers next to the mission language. Volunteers contributed 5,800 hours. More than 500 students took part in education programs. The organization said it returned 1,073 acres to the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians.
Revenue was $1,119,058, KESQ reported, from fundraising, programs, grants and administrative fees. That is last year's books, not a forecast for Nov. 18. No fundraising goal or expected proceeds for this year's dinner appear in the reporting.
One night, the operating budget
An event listing on Patch describes the annual gathering as drawing more than 300 people outdoors in early November. That is a standing description of the event, not a head count for 2026. The listing also says sponsorships, ticket sales, the auctions and a focused Fund-Our-Mission paddle raise are how Friends aims, in one night, to raise money for annual operating expenses.
Tammy Martin, the executive director, said in a statement that Friends and Champions celebrates the valley and brings people together to protect it, and that the evening is a chance to connect with the community and support conservation, education and research for future generations.
Tickets are listed at desertmountains.org/friends-and-champions/. Whether any remain, and whether the auction card has changed since Thursday's notice, is not independently confirmed. The concrete offer on the record is still a $200 seat, a paddle raise and three lots that run from an e-bike trail to a 12-year-old's oil painting.
