STAR's Community Service Project

STARS 08/09: Antonio, Ashley, Don Jason, Ebony Porter, Sarah Williams, Stephanie (and few other members not in the picture)

STARS doesn't just sit around and talk about issues in society we like to roll up our sleeves and get involved in our community. For our community service project we volunteered for the United Campus Ministries auction and dinner at the Athens Community Center on Nov. 8 2008.


The UCM auction had two phases: the live auction at the end and the silent auction in the beginning.These next four pictures show some of the items that were up for auction in the first phase of the auction. Items included: trips, tea sets and board games, antique doll furniture and autographed basketballs.

This next photo shows the table where people would register to participate in the auction

At the event some of the entertainment was provided by "Calliope," a local feminist choir. STARS was responsible for moving the platform they were standing on after they got finished singing.

Here are people walking the silent auction and writing their bids on pieces of paper next to the items.

Before the auction STARS and other volunteers were responsible for putting all of the items to be auctioned in order by catalog number.

Here are the center pieces at the tables for the dinner. I, Don Jason, was partially responsible for putting them together. The consisted of a glass bowl with a tea-light candle in them and donated Squash and leaves.

Here I, Don Jason, am laying out the centerpieces.

Here is a close up of the colorful squash and leaves.

These next two pictures show that at one point in the dinner set up there were so many volunteers they ended standing around doing nothing and had to get sent home.

We had to stuff small mesh bags with candy. These bags acted as weight for the balloons.

Here I am trying the ribbon around one of the balloon.

Here is a UCM volunteer blowing up the balloons.

At the dinner Ed the caterer made a wonderful meal. He called it Appalachian and International all at the same time. There was salad with some organic sunflower sauce. Noodles with vegetables, Tofu and potatoes in a squash and vegetable stew and tenderly seasoned chicken with vegetables.

The appetizers were cheese and humus spreads with crackers.

For appetizers there were also some grape leaf, sea-weed looking wraps.I was not brave enough to try one.

STARS was put on cake duty. we had to cut the cake and put the cake pieces on plates. We could hardly keep up with the rush, people kept taking two and three pieces of cake.

At the end of the dinner their was a live auction and here is one of the auctioneers. They were pointing at people and talking so fast.

UCM raised over $2,000 with the silent auction. I don't know the exact number for the live auction but I know it beats the Silent auction by a land-slide. One item in the Live auction, three-homemade pies went for $525.

Feel free to comment on my pictures: Have you ever been to a auction for charity before, or an auction in general?