Last year, a room full of donated items became something bigger than the sum of its parts. Gift baskets and getaways, handmade pieces and gift cards, experiences that someone offered simply because they wanted to help, all of it added up to real funds for the more than 330 children in our care. That was Give Hope, Give Home, our annual benefit auction, and this year we’re doing it again. We’re beginning to gather the items and services now, and we’d be grateful for yours.
This year’s Give Hope, Give Home auction goes live October 25 and runs through November 8, when we’ll gather in person at Heart of Life Church in Garden City to close it out together. Everything that fills it, every item and experience on the table, comes from people and businesses who decide to give something they have so that a child they may never meet can keep a safe place to sleep and a school worth showing up for.
If you have something to contribute, here’s what helps us most. New items work well, and so do experiences and services, whether that’s a weekend stay, a session of something you’re skilled at, or a product your business makes. Anything in the range of about $50 to $200 is a wonderful fit. When you reach out, it helps to include a short description of the item, its approximate retail value, and a photo if you have one handy.
The one date to keep in mind is September 13. That’s when we’d love to have donated items in hand, and there’s a good reason it comes so far ahead of the auction itself. Everything that arrives by then gets photographed, written up, and featured in our catalog and preview promotion, which is what actually puts it in front of bidders and helps it raise the most it can for the children. Getting your donation to us early simply gives it the best possible showing, and for a business, it means your name in front of a warm and generous audience for weeks before anyone places a bid.
To donate an item or a service, or just to ask whether something you have in mind is a good fit, reach out to Bailey Fraccascia or Lara Justesen, email us at projectnic@heartoflife.org, or use the contact form at project-nic.org. If you gave last year, we would love to have you back, and if this is your first time, there’s a place for you here too.
An auction can seem like a small thing next to the size of what these children need. But this is how a lot of steady care gets funded, one donated item and one raised paddle at a time, by a community that keeps choosing to show up. We believe every child deserves a home and a reason to hope, and Give Hope, Give Home is one of the ways we get to turn that belief into something a child can actually feel. Thank you for being part of it again this year.
