The Friends of Renton Schools Fund collected about $197,000 in pledges and cash for its first fundraiser Monday.

“It served two purposes. Yea, we raised money but another thing we got was amazing feedback,” said Sherre Piantanida, chair of the fund.

The “Launching Lifetime Learning” breakfast drew about 400 local business owners, politicians and community organizers.

Piantanida expects to continually draw in more money from the event, as matching donations from companies are processed.

The board budgeted for about $135,000 in revenue from the event, a conservative number, Piantanida said.

“For a first event, I’m very happy about it,” she said. “One of my focuses over the next couple of months is going to get more people involved.”