Where’s the “fun” in fundraising?

 OPR’s Angela Ellis tries to drum up support for the upcoming silent auction during a Saturday (September 30, 2006) farmer’s market in Fredericksburg, VA.

Here at the OPR HQ in Fredericksburg, VA, we have been working hard finalizing the details for our first ever fundraising event that takes place this coming Saturday, October 7. Ticket sales for the silent auction have been slow, but the event hosts assure us that will change in the last couple of days leading up to the event.

Surprising enough to me, getting items for bid for the auction has been the relative easy part. We’ll have everything from original artworks to a year-long YMCA family membership to an HP printer/scanner/fax machine. Former White House staff photographer and Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist David Hume Kennerly has even donated an original black and white print that usually sells for several hundred dollars.

I’m both excited and anxious about the event. Excited for what the proceeds will do to further our cause. Anxious, because I don’t like asking people for money. I’m the kid who who would quit the recreation league soccer team when it came time to sell donuts to make money for uniforms.

Luckily, I’m surrounded by people who don’t share my anxieties about asking for money.

Stay tuned, I’ll have more announcements this week.

Dave