For the past few weeks, we have been advertising the coming “UUp for the Challenge” Service Auction. If you are new to our church you may not be aware of what this event is or how it raises money for our church home. If so, read on!

The service auction is like any auction you may have seen on TV or participated in on eBay. There are things for sale, and they go to the highest bidder (though many items at our event will be offered at a fixed price). In this case, the things for sale are items and services donated by members and friends of the church. In non-COVID times we gather in the Fellowship Hall for a dinner followed by the auction, in which a live auctioneer (our beloved Don Denny) leads the bidding as people vie to purchase the services and items offered by their fellow UUs. All the money raised by selling these items goes to the church, enough to make this our largest fundraiser of the year. This year, like last, we have been forced to move the bidding online, but the underlying principles are the same.

The auction is a wonderful fundraiser for the church, but it is also much more than that. Offering or buying a service at the auction means that throughout the year you are meeting up with your fellow UUs for fun activities or delicious meals. So if you have a service that you can offer, please consider adding it to this year’s auction; it will help raise money for the church but, perhaps more importantly, it will give you an opportunity to strengthen the social bonds between us all. It will help to make sure that we are all UUp for the Challenge!