A silent auction on campus last week raised $4,046 for hurricane relief efforts through bids on gift baskets, apparel, memorabilia, and other items.
Students, faculty, staff, alumni, and visitors bid on items donated by members of the college and the local community. All proceeds went directly toward benefitting families and communities hit by the hurricanes around the Gulf Coast.
The Student Activities Office put the silent auction together. Director of Student Activities Ashlyn Landherr said she believed the auction to be a success. She said it was an incredible opportunity for the community of Hillsdale to come together to help provide to support for communities around the country going through hardships.
“Once we got the word out about the philanthropy, donations started flooding in from staff, faculty, and student groups, as well as local businesses and some alumni,” Landherr said in an email. “It was a great showing of how powerful and selfless our community can be.”
The top three items by price were a frozen meats package, an autographed Detroit Red Wings memorabilia package, and an authentic dinosaur bone. They sold for $200, $125, and $125, respectively. Another high profile item was the “Men’s basketball coach for a day” item, donated by the basketball team. It sold for $110.
“I think it’s an important thing for Hillsdale College to help and support the people in our country who are in need” said John Tharp, head coach of the men’s basketball team.
Assistant Director of Student Activities Hank Prim also said the event went well.
“The strong outpouring of support from our college and local community, coupled with the large amount of relief aid generated made this event a success,” said Prim in an email. “Ashlyn and I were extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to coordinate this event on behalf of the college, and we’ve been surely impressed by the sheer generosity of our awesome college and wonderful community.”
The money raised will be donated to the American Red Cross and designated for hurricane relief efforts. The American Red Cross will use these funds to purchase aid supplies and provide support to communities devastated by hurricanes.
“We know that there’s a lot of rebuilding that needs to be done around the Gulf,” said Landherr. “Our hope is that these funds will go to helping in any way possible.”