The annual Rotary – Coast TV auction on Nov. 19 took things in a new direction this year with online pre-bidding.
In previous years, pre-bidding was all done by phone. Chair of the Gibsons Rotary funds disbursement committee, John Kavanagh, said it has made a huge difference.
“We used to come into the auction with several hundred dollars of pre-bids,” Kavanagh said. “Today we came into the auction with $17,000 in pre-bids. More than half the money that we will take in has been bid already by 2 p.m. [when pre-bidding closed].”
Gibsons and Sechelt Rotaries – part of Rotary International – teamed up with Coast TV with the goal of raising $30,000. They came up a little short of their goal, raising a little over $28,000, according to Rotary Club of Gibsons treasurer Chris Wolfe. This means that over half the money raised was done online.
“The idea came about because the Rotary Auction is a well-loved institution on the Coast, it’s been running for many years,” Wolfe said. “But its coverage is dependent on the coverage of Coast TV. Telus has taken quite a portion of customers from Coast TV over the years – there’s competition going on – so fewer people are able to access the auction than were previously. We wanted to spread out the reach of the auction to anyone who has online access.”
Funds raised through the auction are going to scholarships for students graduating from Elphinstone Secondary School next summer and going on to higher education.
Funds are also going towards the purchase and installation of a range of outdoor fitness equipment for the Gibsons Waterfront, and for the purchase and distribution of Hippo Water Rollers to relieve the burden of carrying water long distances by women and children in Africa.
