We’re gearing up for the geekiest holiday bash of the season, with more than 700 expected at McCaw Hall for Thursday’s huge GeekWire Gala. And while we’ll raise a toast to an exciting year in technology, and honor some of the most important newsmakers of the year, this event is extra special in part because the community is rallying behind our Geeks Give Back campaign.

This year we’ve partnered with Vittana, a Seattle non-profit that’s devoted to wiping out youth poverty through the power of education. It’s an important cause, and GeekWire is proud to ally with Vittana on it.

We’ve had an enormous outpouring of support so far, with teams from Amazon.com, Blue Box, Redfin and many others already donating more than $18,000. But the competition is not over, and there’s still time to join a team and make a donation to this very worthy organization, one supported by the likes of venture capitalist Vinod Khosla and Zillow co-founder Rich Barton. Go here for more details on how to donate.

We’ll announce the winning team on-stage at the Gala on Thursday night, so here’s your chance to grab the spotlight and a special prize. Also, through a partnership with Chirpify, we’ll be accepting donations via Twitter during the evening. (Go here to sign up for an account). Additional rewards will be available at $25, $150 and $250 donation levels, and the biggest donor will take home a $500 gift certificate to Knoll Furniture.

Previously: Vittana founder Kushal Chakrabarti’s guest post on the Geeks Give Back campaign: Why I walked away from $1 million (and why you should help us combat youth poverty)

Thanks to our sponsors for making the GeekWire Gala possible: FilterMicrosoft Outlook.comMailChimpKnollFlinn FergusonMicrosoft User ResearchSide CarSprig HealthSplunk,  Weber ShandwickPaperGMcAdams Wright RagenDeloitte Digital,  SEOmoz, and Vittana.

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