The 40th Annual St. Pat’s Dinner Auction, sponsored by the St. Vincent Educational Foundation and held March 8, was a record-breaker when it came to the amount of money raised by the annual event.
“It turned out great,” said foundation member Chad Wheeler. “The most we’d ever raised before at the action was two years ago when we made around $244,000 over the night of the auction. This year, we surpassed $250,000. So, this is the first time we’ve ever hit that quarter-million mark.”
Describing the education committee’s reaction to the record amount raised this year, Wheeler said, “We were pumped! We were excited! This is the first time we’ve had a sellout since we moved over to the St. Vincent gym. We held the auction at the American Legion for many, many years. After COVID, we moved over to the gym. We had a crowd of 376 people attend, plus some workers and others, so this was the biggest crowd we’ve had there. It raised our expectations, for sure!"
Asked how the money raised by the auction is likely to be used, Wheeler said, “We have commitments, but it’s not guaranteed, obviously, because it depends on how our fundraising goes, but a lot of the money pays towards the children of teachers to attend St. Vincent, so it’s not a financial burden for them. We do what we refer to as a ‘teacher request.’ We want to make sure no teacher ever spends their own money.
“That’s something teachers used to have to do a lot and used to be pretty common in private schools. Our big thing is making sure they don’t have to do that. We get them anything they need for their classrooms. Outside of that, we have a pledge of $95,000 a year that we give to the school for their general funds to help keep the tuition down. We also do a lot of odds and ends in addition to that, too.”
The foundation spends a lot of time raising funds for various needs at the school. In fact, according to Wheeler, one of its most recent goals has been updating the elementary school’s bathrooms.
“We have an event called ‘Make it Happen,” he said. “It’s a direct ask for money that we’ve done around seven years now. This year, we needed to do the main bathrooms the kids use at the elementary. There are two sets of them — so four total — two for girls and two for boys. They haven’t been renovated since 1987, when the school was built, so we put a little video together and raised money for that.
“By the end of the auction, we had raised $74,000 of the $80,000 needed — and I think we’re going to hit it real soon. We’ve had some people call that are mailing checks, and once we get those, we’ll have that completed. Our goal is to try to do that this summer so that when the kids come back to the elementary school next year, the bathrooms will be fully renovated.”
Wheeler said the education committee wants to thank everyone who had a part in making this year’s auction a record-breaker.
“As always, we have extremely generous people. Also, our president, Sara Hennemann, does an amazing job leading this group and this event. The school works wonderfully with us, too.”
Wheeler said he was particularly excited about a new tradition that began at this year’s auction.
“The final item auctioned off is a $20 bill that Eugene Keller (Keller Motors) donated in 1990. Through the years, including this year, we’ve raised a total of $49,350.”
Wheeler said the best way to tell the story of the $20 bill was by sharing a poem written by Evelyn Rehagen:
“It's just a $20 bill, as green as green can be. But quite a great tradition, it has come to be. One year, the St. Patrick's Auction was just about to end, but many of the people still had cash they planned to spend. Here's a 20, Eugene said, Let's see what it will bring. Soon, the willing auction bids over the crowd did ring. Fifty, 60, 70, we couldn't believe our eyes. Up and up the bid did go for that symbolic prize. Finally, the bidding stopped, now isn't that so cool! Let's see what folks 'round here will do, to help St. Vincent School. They say the best is saved for last, I guess it must be true. So, buy! Your name goes on the list when all the bidding’s through. Open your wallets, don't be shy, raise your voices clear. We'll keep the 20; we'll keep the school, year after year, after year.”
