Join us on August 27th for the 1st annual Red Hot Road Rally benefiting the Childrean and Community Health Center (CCHC) of McKinney, Texas. CCHC provides healthcare to the underserved children and adults of McKinney and the surrounding areas. All services are provided free of charge to individuals without regard to race, ethnicity, religion, or nationality. The only requirement is that the patient must be unable to access healthcare services through the traditional fee-for-service delivery system.
CCHC was founded on August 2nd, 2004 by Mary Nelle Cummins, along with a small group of benefactors. We are affiliated with Volunteers in Medicine founded by Jack B. McConnell, M.D. on Hilton’s Head Island, South Carolina.
The clinic plays a valuable role in the community providing basic and routine healthcare for uninsured or under insured families in McKinney and surrounding areas.
Live & Silent Auctions
One of the highlights of the Red Hot Road Rally will be the live and silent auctions at Myers Park.
If you are unable to attend the end of ride event, but would still like to bid on the live and silent auction items displayed on this site, you can place an online absentee bid. Online absentee bidding bidding for the live and silent auction items will cease on Friday August 26th at 8 pm CDT. Absentee bids will be assigned to a proxy bidder at the event. The proxy bidder will place bids up to, and including, the maximum bid offered by the online absentee bidder. So, if you won’t be present at the event and you see an auction item you can’t live without, bid high! If your online absentee bid is the high winning bid, you will be contacted on Monday, August 29th, 2011.
Online Auctions
Be sure to tell all your friends about our online auction!! The Red Hot Road Rally Online auction will remain open until 8:00 PM Tuesday, September 6, 2011.
If you’re having a fundraising event for your school, consider adding a teacher’s wish list.
Ask each teacher to create a list of items, typically ranging in price from $25 to $50, that they would like for their classroom. If ”big ticket” items such as computers, printers, etc. are needed, split them into multiple requests of $50 to $100 towards the purchase of the item.
Next, create an attractive list for each classroom. The teacher’s name and classroom should be easily visible. Each list should have an area for bidders to place their bid number next to the item they want to make a donation for.
Display all the wish lists in an area which is easily accessible to everyone attending your event.
At the end of the evening, the donations from the teacher’s wish list are added to the bidder’s auction purchases. The money raised is placed in a fund for the purchase of those items “purchased.”
Bidumup,
Lloyd
• Solicitation – Instead of just asking for an item donation, be specific! Ask for exactly what you want from each donor. Shoot for the stars! They can only say no, and just might say yes. Also, when asking always use consider. Would you consider donating the beautiful Grandfather clock for our annual auction? If the answer is no they only said no to consider donating the clock. You can then counter offer by asking for a donation of a lesser item.
• Item Grouping – How much money can you raise with a $25 dining gift certificate? If your lucky $20 to $25. How much excitement can you generate from the certificate? Not much. But, if you package it with 12 other gift certificates worth $25 to $50 each- you have “Dinning Out For A Year”. Throw in a couple of movie tickets and you have a “Date Night” Package. By doing this you now have an item that should bring between $400 to $600. You also have an item that people will get excited about and hopefully help in creating a “Buzz” about your event.
• Building your catalog – Having a variety of Merchandising is key! If possible try to gather images of the donations from the donors such as logos, property photos this will help make your items stand-out. A picture is a must if you’re listing your item Online.
• Email announcements - Keep your potential bidders informed by sending emails that list frequently added items. Be sure to mix up the range of pricing and types of items that are new to the catalog. Also be sure to invite them to forward the email to family & friends who might be interested in bidding on any of the items.
Bidumup,
Lloyd
During a commercial auction, presentation or public event the audience is for the most part quiet and giving their full attention to the auctioneer or presenter this is not the case at a Benefit Auction! A benefit auction is different from other events because at a benefit auction the attendees will all be schmoozing and socializing (remember they have come to party!). The success of your event depends on the audience being able to clearly hear and understand what is being said while still socializing with other guests. For this you need a benefit auction quality surround sound system!
When planning your event don’t overlook the sound system! One of the biggest mistakes organizations make is not securing a proper sound system. The problem with using the bands (or DJ’s) system is that it is single sided sound (setup along one side of the room usually the front of the room). For the people in the back to hear, you have to turn up the volume so much that the people in the front are blown away (not a good idea especially if your VIP guests are seated in the front of the room!). If you turn the volume down enough to satisfy the people in the front then the people in the back cannot hear. As for using the hotels system, think again most hotel sound systems use small speakers built into the ceiling. These small speakers are usually of poor quality and often distort when the volume is raised high enough to be heard in a packed room full of people socializing.
Most organizations work an entire year to create one magical evening. Don’t let all your hard work be wasted because your audience cannot clearly hear and understand the auctioneer. Be sure to ask your auctioneer if they provide a benefit auction quality sound system.
Bidumup,
Lloyd
Join us on June 13th At the Eldorado Country ClubFor the McKinney Lions Morning Pride 5th annual Fore Sight Golf Scramble & Benefit Auction. To register for this event or to preview the auction items please visit our site: FORE SIGHT GOLF SCRAMBLE
The online portion of the auction will open June 1, 2011 and close June 12, 2011 at 8 pm CST. Upon the close of the online portion of the auction, all bidding will cease until the live auction on Monday, June 13th, at 6:00 pm CDT at Eldorado Country Club. During the online auction, registered online bidders can choose to place a maximum “proxybid” for the live portion of the auction. Each online bidder who places a “proxybid” will be assigned a “proxy” bidder to place bids at the live auction – up to the maximum amount specified by the online bidder.
Join us on June 12&13 for the 23rd Annual Del Frisco’s Classic Golf Tournament. Golfers play at the prestigious and exclusive Gleneagles Country Club. The tournament is preceded by a dinner at the fabulous Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steak House. Guests are treated to an amazing night. The live auction will be conducted Benefit Bidding.
For more information please visit the event website
The Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative holds monthly online auctions during the first 10 days of each month. Auctions are hosted by BenefitBidding.com.
The Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative™ (www.AlzQuilts.org) is a national, grassroots charity whose mission is to raise awareness and fund research. The AAQI auctions and sells donated quilts, and sponsors a nationally touring exhibit of quilts about Alzheimer’s. The AAQI has raised more than $552,000 since January 2006.
Ami Simms of Flint, Michigan is the founder and executive director of the AAQI, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit operated entirely by volunteers. She is a quilter. Her mother had Alzheimer’s.
The AAQI currently sponsors two major programs:
Alzheimer’s Illustrated: From Heartbreak to Hope
The first is a nationwide traveling quilt exhibit called “Alzheimer’s Illustrated: From Heartbreak to Hope.” It features 182 “Name Quilts” six inches wide and seven feet tall, containing the names of more than 10,000 individuals who have or had Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia. Hanging among the Name Quilts are 53 small format art quilts (9″ x 12″) that each interpret Alzheimer’s in some way. The exhibit will tour the United States for 5 years.
Priority: Alzheimer’s Quilts
The second is the “Priority: Alzheimer’s Quilts” project, so named for the urgent need for research dollars and the hope that quilters across the country would make participation in this project a priority. These small quilts fit inside flat rate cardboard priority mailers from the USPS, which the group uses to ship quilts to winning bidders after monthly online auctions.
There are an estimated 5.3 million Americans with Alzheimer’s disease. We believe we can make a difference, one quilt at a time.
Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative
1200 Creekwood Trail
Burton, MI 48509
The Lewisville Reader Star recently ran an article on our Online Auction to raise money for the North Texas Food Bank. Full the story at http://www.planostar.com/articles/2010/07/21/lewisville_leader/news/30.txt
PRESS RELEASE – Quilt Country
Contact: Sandy Brawner, Owner
701 S. Stemmons Fwy #60, Lewisville, TX 75067-4591
Phone 972-436-7022
Fax 972-436-6065
sandy@quiltcountry.com
Food Bank Faces First Financial Shortfall since 1982 Opening. Lewisville, Texas Quilt Shop and its Customers Organize Auction
Lewisville, TX June 29, 2010: When Sandy Brawner learned the North Texas Food Bank donation receipts for the current fiscal year are $250,000 less than budgeted, she knew immediately the staff and customers of her Lewisville, TX quilt shop would want to help. Sandy and her Quilt Country team decided to hold its first miniature quilt auction and donate 100% of the proceeds to the food bank. The miniature quilts, all of which are beautifully designed, crafted and donated by customers and employees of Quilt Country, are available for auction online by accessing the shop’s website at http://www.quiltcountry.com or http://www.benefitbidding.com through 3 p.m. CDT Sunday, July 11, 2010.
The public is encouraged to visit the store, located at 701 S. Stemmons Freeway in Lewisville, to personally view these unique miniature quilts.
Auction bids will also be accepted in the shop.
This auction offers buyers an array of exquisite mini quilts to bid on while supporting the nutritional needs of North Texas families. When viewing the quilts, the public will be moved by both the talent and compassion of these quilt designers. One of the quilters, Coleen Voss, decided “I had to use only fabric scraps in my quilt, nothing new, only what I had on hand. I wanted my quilts to show hunger in some way…I thought what does hunger look like …That is how I choose my fabric scraps. What does hunger feel like? I imagine it must feel raw, so I left some raw edges. It must hurt, so I used porcupine quills…Hunger also must feel cold and lonely, so I used polished stones.”
The staff and customers of Quilt Country have a long history of supporting various charitable causes. Since 2003, the shop has hosted an annual food drive for the North Texas Food Bank between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Quilt Country held a bra quilt challenge to benefit the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Each entrant made a quilt using a pattern for a bra quilt. Quilt Country staff and customers have donated shoe boxes filled with necessities for children worldwide through Samaritan’s Purse. The shop’s customers and staff donated and shipped boxes of toys for children in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as magazines, food, socks, cards, games and personal care items for our soldiers serving in these countries. In the wake of 9/11, Quilt Country sponsored a drive to make and collect quilts for NYC firefighters and survivors of victims. Soon after Katrina, the staff and customers of Quilt Country made and donated quilts for victims. Residents of the Denton State School have received pillowcases made by a Quilt Country customer. The shop has sponsored a quilt drive for Project Linus, collected items for the Chin refugees from Myanmar, donated fabric to Lutheran World Relief, and participated in the 1,000,000 pillowcase challenge.
For release 8 a.m. CDT, July 1, 2010
