The 27th Annual Jefferson Rotary Charity Auction was held on Saturday and tens of thousands of dollars were raised. 

Jefferson Rotary President Sam Harding said the event collected a gross total amount of over $63,000 before all expenses were calculated, including $24,325 from the live auction. The item that had the most money was a four day Disney World trip for $4,000 and a trip to honor the memory of the late Rotarian, Sid Jones. The trip was one of Jones’ favorite pastimes with fishing at Lake Okoboji, with a weekend for three couples that went for $3,200. 

Another large donation came at the end of the evening with the Fund-A-Need. This year’s entity that the Jefferson Rotary Club chose was an expansion project for Midwest Mission Iowa, which helps to provide relief from disasters and other emergencies around the world. Midwest Mission Iowa Director Danille Curtis said in just their second year of operation, they have seen a 400 percent increase of in-kind donations at the facility that is on North Chestnut Street, across from Jefferson City Hall. She talked about the issue that they are currently facing.

“The big reason is we have to send most of our donations to Illinois to be sent internationally. We just don’t have that capacity and the availability with our current loading dock situation to do an international shipment here from our Jefferson location.”

Curtis added that they are planning to add a second loading dock so that their in-kind donations can be directly shipped internationally. The auction brought in $13,800 for Midwest Mission.

Harding described his reaction to the event overall.

“We sold out tickets and then we, actually we oversold because we didn’t get it shut off (the website) quick enough. Thanks to Wild Rose for working with us to set up some more tables to get that accomplished. But we had an amazing night. We just brought in more than we’ve done in any of the auctions that I can remember and that was awesome. So, it was a great night out here.”  

Another highlight is what started the auction off with tables buying homemade desserts, with the money going toward the Rotary scholarships and that raised $6,325. There was also a silent auction as well. Proceeds from the fundraiser goes mostly towards local projects and non-profit organizations, as well as to the Rotary International to fight polio worldwide.