Kiwanis auction profits assist residents in need

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February 22, 2013

Kiwanis auction profits assist residents in need

By GREG RUSSELL, Register Staff Writer The Daily Register Fri Feb 22, 2013, 10:02 AM CST

Gainesville — A Gainesville organization’s largest annual fundraiser should help maintain the local standard of efforts on behalf of local organizations.

Kiwanis Club of Gainesville’s radio auction begins at 1 p.m. Sunday, March 3, on KGAF Radio, scheduled for hosting by Patrick McCage and Kyle Ingram.

A full page listing of auction items will run in the March 2 weekend edition of the Gainesville Daily Register.

Profits, which tend to range between $5,000 and $8,000, will be divvied among agencies such as Abigail’s Arms, 4-H, Special Olympics, Boys Club and Volunteers In Service To Others (VISTO).

Items for the auction are often gathered months in advance. During the event, the items are described on the radio show and auctioned off in groups, with bidders only permitted to vie for an item after it has been announced.

It’s the club’s largest event during any year and a financial companion to an annual golf tournament — both of which funnel their proceeds toward the public good.

“All the funds raised go to local needs for children and the elderly,” said Kiwanis member Maggie Sykes, who added that she sees Gainesville as a community that has such needs best met through unity. “I think we’ve definitely raised the bar, as far as the level of giving to local needs-based organizations, and we’ve raised awareness of those organizations as well.”

Sykes, who runs youth mentoring benefit program Project Turning Point, said she got involved with Kiwanis Club during the past five years as an extension of what she was already doing.

“I think Kiwanis is a growing organization in this town and we have grown each year,” she said. “We have a broad range of young and old in our club and that’s a benefit for us. And because of that, we touch, through our volunteering and membership, lots of organizations and we try to benefit all those that do have local impact.”

The auction items are scheduled to be listed at www.gainesvillekiwanis.com. For more information, call (940) 665-5594.

About Kiwanis Club

Locally, the club meets at noon on Tuesdays at Gainesville Civic Center. More than 50 Gainesville-area members serve in it.