This year the Orillia Kiwanis Club of Orillia auction is moving to a virtual format. The usual one-day live and silent auction has been transformed into a five-day online event that will take place from Saturday, Nov. 7 to Thursday, Nov. 12.
A list of the near 300 items up for auction is available for viewing now at kiwanisorillia.ca/auction. Once the auction goes live, bidders will be asked to register with their name, email, and credit card information.
This year marks the 41st anniversary of the Orillia Kiwanis Club Auction, which is the club’s biggest fundraising event of the year.
Mark Burns, president of the Orillia Kiwanis Club of Orillia, says while the online platform isn’t ideal, the event must go on.
“We still have projects that need funding, we have to do something and based on what we are seeing in our community, people are being extra generous right now in this greater time of need,” Burns said.
The Kiwanis Club has been overwhelmed with the support of new and returning donors who are supporting this year's event, said Burns.
“Everyone has been very positive. We haven’t had many donors who have said they can’t help this year, and we recognize that this is a tough year for everyone, especially for small businesses who had to shut down for a while,” Burns said.
Despite the great support from the community and local businesses, Burns isn’t confident the auction will raise the $70,000-$80,000 it has typically brought in in recent years.
“I’m not convinced we will raise as much. In the past we’ve had big-ticket items like motorcycles, hot tubs, ATV’s, things like that will be tougher to get a good price for online,” Burns said.
“However, I think as long as people show up the same way they usually would, then we should do pretty well.”
The proceeds raised from the auction go back into funding multiple community and youth-centric programs such as the Kiwanis Safety Village, Kiwanis Music Festival, children’s T-ball, and the back-to-school backpack program, just to name a few.
The Orillia Kiwanis Club also donates money to Big Brothers and Big Sisters, as well as multiple programs at Soldiers' Memorial Hospital.
“We have a lot of yearly commitments and that’s why it’s important to continue this year,” Burns said.
"We can’t take a year off and tell the pediatric ward at the hospital that we can’t make the payment that we normally do, so our programs will continue as best as we can adapt them.”
