Our sincere thanks to sponsors of REAL’s first online fall auction, which concluded October 17.  These generous people and organizations contributed  $1735 towards our fundraising total.  We truly appreciate their financial support of environmental action in our community.

Platinum Supporters:
Andress Your Independent Grocer
Allison and David Gibbons
Linda Kulkarni
Smiths Falls Optometrists                  

Gold Supporters:
Greg and Judy Fournier

Silver Supporters:
Peter and Daisy Au
Katie and David Hoffman
Sandi Howell
Frank Roy

Bronze Supporters:
Marion Forster
Janet Laraway
Cheryl Nash
Ruth and Peter Nelson
Judy Snider

The auction itself surpassed our goal.  Friendly bidding on the 92 auction items raised $2,168.29 for a grand fundraising total of $3903.29, and very few expenses were incurred.   Only three items did not attract any bids, but one dedicated auction supporter came forward to purchase two of them afterwards.   Most of the items were gently used treasures donated to the REAL Deal store, but we also had some lovely donations from friends of REAL as well. 

Ninety seven people registered to bid in the auction.  While there were some familiar names, there was very little overlap with local foods dinner crowd, and a whole lot of people not previously associated with REAL.  Fourteen of those people have now signed up to our mailing list, so the auction has been a great promotional tool.  We thank everyone for their bids, and are sorry if you didn’t get what you were looking for.  There is always lots of great stuff at the REAL Deal if you missed out!

Thanks to Donna McKenna for coordinating the auction, setting aside the merchandise over the past year and preparing it for sale.  She was assisted by Aira Sarmiento, Marla McKenna, Brenda King and Barb Hicks. Katie Hoffman looked after approaching the sponsors.

Thanks everyone for your wonderful support.   We hope to do it again some day!