OLDS - A much-anticipated annual auction recently raised just over $16,000 for a variety of local initiatives, youth programming and facilities.
The 53rd annual Kiwanis Auction was held Dec. 12 at the Olds Royal Canadian Legion Branch #105 with a packed crowd in attendance.
Murray Elliott, Kiwanis Club of Olds president, estimated the event drew about 200 people to bid on the approximately 150 items donated from nearly every facet of the community.
Money raised goes towards Kiwanis Club of Olds’ selected beneficiaries which in the past have included breakfast programs at two Olds schools, Mountain View Emergency Shelter Society, Olds Municipal Library, Olds and District Christmas Angels and many more.
The success of the event relies on the giving nature of the community, said Elliott.
“After 53 years people actually anticipate this and businesses look forward to it,” he said.
Donations come from all over the community, he noted.
“From any business big or small. Some of the items were cash donations. If the business didn’t donate, often the business owner would write a cheque.”
The items up for auction this year were as varied as the people who donated them.
“Beautiful handmade quilts made with a lot of hours and effort and heart put into them all the way up to a $700 recliner and blowers which are handy right now, and grinders, gift certificates, up to just about anything in town, movie passes – it runs the gamut,” Elliott said.
No stone is left unturned when it comes to seeking out those donations, he added.
The local Kiwanis club has about 25 members and can count on a few non-Kiwanians each year to help with the effort.
“Everyone has a list and some lists are really big and it’s darn near a full-time job – to go back and back again and back again,” he said.
Planning discussions begin in earnest in the summer, he said, and by fall a core group is conducting outreach.
“We send out a letter, we obviously advertise it in print on radio online and then we follow up. And we’ve got a great volunteer base in Kiwanis and everyone rolls up his or her sleeves to get out there. A hundred and fifty is a lot of businesses to see.”
Help also comes in the form of auctioneering services, which one local family has generously provided for all 53 years, he said.
“Olds auction and the Rosehills have been attached to that for 53 years donating their services. And it’s a lot of time and effort and those guys are professionals – they know how to work the crowd. They know it’s a good cause,” Elliott said.
The club’s charitable focus is on children.
This year, a new addition to the auction helped raise money for a particular group in need, he said.
“For the first time, we held a 50/50 at the event for Christmas Angels. They are woefully underfunded this year. And it garnered close to $400. It’s desperately needed,” Elliott said.
While not associated with the proceeds from the auction, the club also presented the Olds and District Hospice Society with a cheque during the event. About $9,600 was raised through the club’s recent Wine Survivor contest which was in turn given to the hospice society.
