Project Cheer auction to benefit High Tech North students in need
High Tech North hosted a holiday auction Wednesday to benefit students having a hard time this holiday season.
Project Cheer, a 15-year-old program, combines faculty, staff and students to raise funds for those who find it difficult to buy presents for their children or prepare a holiday meal.
The money raised in the auction is used to purchase gift certificates that are later handed out to High Tech North students.
Students at High Tech North started to bring in donations for the program last week, and on Wednesday the items were auctioned off by John Porta, a teacher at the school, from 11 a.m.-noon.
Melody Allen, an organizer of Project Cheer, said the auction will continue today and maybe into Friday. The public is invited to attend each of the days.
“Tomorrow we will have much more items that came after school today,” said Allen on Wednesday. “We didn’t advertise it to the public because it was last minute.”
Nineteen items were sold Wednesday and raised $72 for the Project Cheer program. Items ranged from Christmas decorations, tool sets, glassware and DVDs.
Allen explained that High Tech North has many full-time adult students who are not working. Many of these students are the recipients in the Project Cheer program.
Of course, the demand for assistance is higher this year, and the school’s Student Council decided to raise additional funding by organizing the auction.
Last year only 10 students filled out a form for assistance, said Allen, and this year the program already received 25 to 30 forms.
There are two forms that can be filled out. One is for families who need assistance for their children, and the other is for members of the community to donate “gently used” items.