Generosity

This is the third year we’ve run a silent auction during our departmental Christmas party, the proceeds going to charity. The idea is that individuals or groups of people put together some sort of themed gift basket, or make a certificate for home-baked, home-made goods and services. We have the goodies displayed on a table during the party, with bid sheets and plenty of pens handy.

The first year, we had a spectacular, down to the wire bidding war – on a basket consisting mostly of Hot Wheels cars. It seems both coworkers had promised their kids they would bring something home from the auction. The second year, a coworker whose family runs a deli/catering business donated a certificate for a roast pig. The directors all chipped in to bid on it, and as a result, our picnic this year featured roast pork.

The items on auction are as varied as the personalities of the people in the department. Food items included a freshly baked apple pie and Gwen’s grandmother’s hand made chocolates (which were soon bid out of my budget). There were baskets for car care, for readers, for movie lovers. A pair of Nutcracker ballet tickets sat next to a four-pack of Brewer tickets. Oddly enough, the basket full of various forms of chocolate got more bids than the five pound hand weights, balance ball and certificate for a six week class at the Rec Plex.

The most hotly contested item, though, was the offer of six hours of yard work our associate purchasing director put up. Poor Craig; he has no idea how big Mel’s yard is!

The generosity of my coworkers astounds me. In a time when everyone is trying to tighten belts, they went out of their way to create fun, valuable, creative entries for the auction. Then, they took the added step of bidding on them, and bidding high.

The donations this year are going to places close to our hearts. Half of the funds will go to the education fund of the daughter of a coworker who passed away suddenly earlier this year. The remainder will go to our chapter of Campus Kitchen, an organization that is dedicated to finding creative solutions to the problem of hunger.