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Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Volunteer Gordon Markley serves up wine and cheer at the Sunnyvale Chamber of Commerce's benefit auction.
Hope Auction
Sunnyvale Community Services raises over $50,000 for low-income families
By Daniel Hindin
Sunnyvale Community Services (SCS) raised more than $50,000 at the annual Chamber of Commerce auction on Nov. 30.
The money goes toward the community Christmas center program, a partnership with SCS and the St. Vincent de Paul Society of St. Cyprian, St. Martin and Resurrection churches. The program provides 1,000 low-income families with toys, a household gift and a two-week supply of food during the holiday season.
Tim Dunkin, member of the SCS board of directors and past president for three years, performed his annual duties as the official auctioneer. After an initial $25,000 donation from Juniper Networks and Menlo Equities, Dunkin challenged the estimated 250 to 300 people in attendance to match that amount with their auction purchases.
When SCS tallied all of the purchases as the event drew to a close, they discovered they fell a few hundred dollars short of $25,000 mark. At that point, several generous community members took out their checkbooks and pushed the total up to $25,051.
"The auction has really taken off in the last four years," says SCS executive director Nancy Tivol. "Two years ago we raised $11,000. Last year we raised $17,000. This is the first year we partnered with St. Vincent de Paul. It maxes out everyone's resources.
"We're absolutely thrilled," Tivol continues. "We had total community involvement in this program. The event didn't cost us anything. All together, we probably had about 600 volunteers involved on the Christmas program. The food, the auction items, the printing of the program, even the building was donated. Everything you see in this building right down to the tables and shelves weren't even here the day before the auction. They were all carried in by our volunteers."
Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
June Hashimoto shows off a basket of 60 Beanie Babies ready to be auctioned off. June has been a volunteer with the Sunnyvale Community Services for 4 years.
The evening began with a dinner donated by Il Postale, with drinks and hors d'oeuvres provided by the Chamber of Commerce and Trader Joe's. Silent auction items were displayed all around the main room and several side rooms of the Washington Park Building. Canned food, toys and other gifts for the low-income families were present throughout the hall. Participants bid on a wide range of items from dolls and video games to tickets to sporting events to tax return preparations.
While silent auction items remained open for bidding, Dunkin opened the voice auction. During the voice auction people bid on luxurious dinners, sports memorabilia and romantic vacations--some items going for over $2,000 each.
Tivol says the payoff of the auction is a great reward after working so hard for so long on the Christmas project.
"Working on this project, we've been able to let our major donors know that Christmas begins early here," Tivol says. "We especially need a lot of help in early December. We even have people buying for us all year round whenever they see sales. Things really get kicked off in early September with a luncheon to let people know what we need from them."
Members of SCS say they pride themselves on how they run the program. According to Tivol, they sponsor too many families to do a traditional adopt-a-family program. Instead, volunteers lead the families through the building allowing them to pick what they want from all of the different items available.
"Dignity is the key," Tivol explains. "The families have the dignity of picking what they want or what their kids want. This way they get to take their family's preferences into consideration, instead of us just pulling up to their houses with specific items and saying, 'here you go.' What's also great about our system is that families who come in the end get just as many choices and just as many items as the families who come in the beginning."
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
