Grant County Combined Appeal Adds Online Auction to Campaign

Published by admin on Tue, 11/03/2020 - 3:34pm

From popcorn to power tools, there’s a huge variety of items up for sale in the first ever Grant County Combined Appeal online auction. Craig Wellnitz, chairman of the organization’s annual fundraising campaign is hopeful that the auction will be a great benefit to reaching the goal of $183,000.

Those who wish to support the Grant County Combined Appeal annual fundraising effort reach its goal of $183,000 have a new opportunity in the first-ever online auction. Area businesses and individuals have donated 34 items to be sold during the auction, and according to Craig Wellnitz, fundraising chairman, the group is still accepting merchandise to add to the lineup.

With items such as Boy Scout popcorn in collectible tins, gift certificates to local businesses, power tools and more, the auction is sure to draw interest. “We want everyone to take a look at the website,” Wellnitz said. “They can look at the items and what the current prices are without creating an account. If they want to bid, then they will need to put in basic information to make an account.”

The auction opens on Friday, November 6, at 7 a.m., and bidding closes on Monday, November 16, at 9 p.m. While the total value of the 34 items is about $2,500, most aren’t big-ticket prices. “There are some items that have low starting bids – some as low as one dollar,” Wellnitz said.

“We thought doing an online auction would give some of the businesses who might not be able to donate money this year another way to give by donating products to the auction,” Wellnitz said. “We also hope that as people look at the items in the auction, they will get interested in the businesses and want to learn more about them.”

Wellnitz added that when the public buys the auction items, they will help out the combined appeal effort, a little at a time.

Once the bidding starts, it will continue 24/7 until the closing bell. Wellnitz said that people should be comfortable using the website because other local groups have used the same service since the COVID-19 pandemic scrambled traditionally scheduled events. “It’s a secure website, and it’s very user-friendly. If I can figure it out, so can anybody,” Wellnitz said.

The auction can be accessed at http://www.32auctions.com/GCCA20. Scroll down to “view all items.”

The organization’s annual fundraising efforts have brought in about half of the needed funds as of Monday, November 2. For more information about the campaign, contact Wellnitz at 605-432-9000 or milbankcf@itcmilbank.com.

~Holli Seehafer