You might think that you don’t need anything at the silent auction and you might think that you don’t want anything at the live auction.  You might even think that you don’t have  much spare money right now.  Well, don’t let that keep you away.  There is no cover charge, so come on down anyway.  Here is how YOU can contribute.  On each table, we will have a jar for spare change.  Dig in that “change jar” or under the sofa cushions, or in your sock drawer, or whereever you keep all those nickels and dimes and quarters.  Bring them down and put them in a jar.  Whether you bring $5 or $50, you are going to help Sarah pay her mortgage for the next whole year.  That is our goal and that is what we are going to do.

YO! YO! WORD!!

Tomorrow about noon, I will post a numbered list of silent auction items.  At 6:00 PM, I will post the same list, but this time with “Buy it now” prices,  If you would like to purchase an item for the buy it now price send an email to sarahhensonbenefitfund@gmail.com stating the item number, the description, and the buy it now price.  Upon receiving the email, we will send a runner to the bidding area and mark the item “sold” and reply to your email.  In the event that someone else has already done the “buy it now”, we will reply to your email and tell you that also.

Tomorrow about noon, I will also publish the final list of “live” auction items.  If you would like to bid on any of these items, you will have two options.  First, Any time tomorrow before 8:00 PM, you can send an email to sarahhensonbenefitfund@gmail.com with the maximum amount that you would be willing to bid.  We will have someone bid for you at the auction.  In the event that you are the winning bidder, you will only be charged for the amount necessary to be the winning bidder.  For example, if you were willing to bid $500 for the fishing trip, but you were the highest bidder at $300 and no one else wished to bid more, then you would get the fishing trip for the price of $300.

The second method of bidding is as follows:  At 6:00 PM, I will publish a list of cell phone numbers.  If you wish to bid by telephone, you may call one of the cell phone numbers at 8:00 PM when the auction starts and make arrangements to be called back when the item you are interested in is being sold.  This will let you participate in the auction action as it happens.

Following the  live auction, I will make a shameless pitch to sell “Sarah Days” for $50 a day.  This is the amount that it takes to pay for one day of mortgage.  At any time you can email us with donations to buy “Sarah Days”  We will mark each of these days on the calendar as they are pledged.

Doug Bratland has been providing all the technology behind with website.  Doug will be on the computer during the event to accept bids and donations.  I really want to publicly thank him for his work.  We had over 500 visits to this site on Thursday.  Doug will be taking pictures during the event and posting them on the site so you can see what is happening.

Thank you all for working with us to make this an incredible event!

Be sure to get your donations in by November 12.  On Thursday, a crew will start getting things ready for the auction.  we will decide which items will be on the live auction and which will be on the silent auction.  We will be making up a bidding sheet for each item on the silent auction.  we  will have each item numbered along with a brief description.  I will try to have a cell phone number availabie with the list in case you have questions about a particular item.

At the silent auction, each item will have a “buy it now” price.  If a bidder chooses to “buy it now” the item is considered sold and is no longer available for bidding.  At 6:00 PM Central time, we will repost the numbered list of auction items, along with the buy it now prices.  If there is an item that you are interested in, you can send an email with the number, your name and address information and the confirmation of the “buy it now” amount.  If you need to have the item shipped, we will ship it to you and you will be responsible for the shipping charges for the item as well as for the “buy it now” price.  This will let you participate in the auction excitement.

We will have about 15 items on the “live” auction.  If you are interested in bidding on any of these, you can send an email prior to the auction with the highest amount that you are willing to bid.  We will have an on-site bidder bid for you, just the same as if you are at the auction.  In other words, if the bidding on the floor doesn’t go as high as your absentee bid, you will be the winner of the item for a price lower than your maximum amount.  In addition, I will get several cell phone numbers that you could call during the live bidding if you wish to actually bid yourself during the auction.  If any of this is unclear, please feel free to email us with your phone number and someone will call you back and explain further.

Finally, during the live auction, I will be asking people to buy one or more “Sarah Days”.  A “Sarah Day” costs $50 and will pay for one day of her mortgage.  We will have a large calendar on stage and we will mark the days and weeks as they are paid for.  If you would like to buy one or more “Sarah Days”, you can also do that by sending an email with the amount that you would like to purchase.  Thank you all in advance for being a part of this wonderful event.

Some of Sarah’s friends are buying “Sarah Days” for each other for Christmas.  What a great idea.  Pass it along!!

(NOTE: See newer messages below this post!)

The main purpose of this fundraiser is to make sure that Sarah doesn’t need to worry about her mortgage while she is concentrating on her family and her recovery.  Our goal is to raise $50 for Sarah’s mortgage for each day of the next year.  During the auction, we will have a large calendar on stage and we will be crossing out each day as we raise the money to pay the mortgage for that day.  As you read this, consider sponsoring a day, a week, or perhaps even a month of Sarah’s mortgage. Even if you don’t need any of the items on the live or silent auction, you will be able to be part of this effort to show Sarah our love and support.

During the fundraiser, we will be uploading pictures of the event along with the dollar totals as the event progresses.  Even if you are not able to be with us physically, you will be able to be online to watch and participate in the evening.  Also it is not too late to donate an item or a service, or a gift certificate.  Please let us know by November 12 so your donation can be included in the fundraiser.  Thank you all in advance

To see the fundraiser flyer full size, please click on the image below.

The committee has decided on a name for the fundraising event that is planned for November 14 at the Grand Event Center in Northfield.  We have settled on the name and the theme of “House Party”.  Our goal is to raise enough money to pay Sarah’s mortgage for a year so she will have one less thing to worry about and can devote her full energy  to getting better.  We want to raise $18,000, which comes out to about $50 per day.  We are making a calendar of days so that we can mark our progress during the fundraiser.  Every time we raise another $50, we will check off a day.  We will be having both a live and a silent auction during the fundraiser as well as a time for people to step up and “buy” a day or a week or even a month of Sarah’s mortgage.

We will be using this blog as a way of communicating with people all across the country (and the world) to let you all know what is happening with the fundraiser, as well as to let you see the kind of wonderful donations that are starting to pour in.  It is our intent to use this blog as a way for you to bid on items and participate in the event as it happens.  More on this later.

Right now, we will start giving details on items that will be on either the live auction or the silent auction.