Madera Rotary Club fundraiser going virtual
Tami Jo Nix/The Madera Tribune Enjoying last year’s Rotary Halloween Ball, Ryan and Robin McWherter portray Bernadette Rostenkowski and Howard Walowitz, characters from the television show The Big Bang Theory. This year’s ball was cancelled because of the pandemic.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Madera Rotary Club Foundation has had to cancel one of its biggest events of the year and had another fund raising event canceled.
However, this has not deterred Madera Rotary from working to benefit the charities as they have done for years.
This year, Madera Rotary has created a virtual “Autumn Auction” to try to raise money for a variety of charities.
“There are over 80 items up for bid,” said virtual auction committee member Alexis Hix. “There’s a beach house in Monterey and a lot of gift certificates. There’s an off-wheeling adventure with the Madera county Sheriff.”
Unfortunately, because of the two cancellations of their fund raisers, Hix and Madera Rotary is afraid they won’t be able to raise the same amount of money they would with the fund raisers so the auction is the next resort.
“We won’t even come close to what we would get with our two fundraisers,” Hix said. “The Halloween Ball is our biggest fundraiser of the year. If we get the minimum bid on every item, we will get $11,000. We hope to get more than that, but that’s our low goal.”
Bidders can go to www.32auctionscom/maderarotary2020 to view items, sign in and bid. The auction ends 8 p.m. on Nov. 10.
“People can directly donate to one of our charities, as well,” Hix said. “They can just give money.” As of Thursday afternoon, Madera Rotary has raised almost $8.500 of their $11,000 goal with plenty of days left to bid.
One of the featured auction items is a Eastern Madera foothill ranch tour with a priceless value. A guided tour of 4-6 will be led by Clay Daulton and includes lunch at the Raymond General Store and will last about 3-5 hours.
Another featured auction item is a trip of a lifetime TanzaniaSafari for two with a minimum bid set for $5,600. It includes an eight-day package with stays in a tented camp and days in a national park, including the Seregeti. Airfare is not included.
The Madera County Sheriff Department off-road adventure is another priceless adventure. The trip is six hours for 1-2 people over 15-years-old with a meal included.
The Monterey beach house is a Capitola condo three-day weekend for six. The condo has three bedrooms and two bathrooms while overlooking the Monterey Bay at New Brighton Beach. the house includes a heated pool and is a short walk to Capitola Village.
