Supporters of Liverpool Regional High School graduates will continue to do so online this year.

For close to 25 years, organizers have held a dinner and auction to raise money for the LRHS scholarship fund. Each year, the fund distributes around 20 $1,000 awards to roughly a third of the graduating class in support of their post-secondary schooling.

Fundraising efforts moved to an online auction when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, cancelling the in-person dinner.

Fundraising committee member Kim McPhail says uncertainty surrounding how lifting COVID-19 restrictions would impact the live event made staying online the most viable option this year.

“We just kind of had to say, okay, we don’t know what’s going to happen in the future. We’re going to have to do the online one to make sure that we can provide the kids with the best option we can,” said McPhail.

Instead of serving patrons dinner as they normally would, 40 student volunteers are headed into the community to ask residents and businesses to donate items to be auctioned off.

So far, those items include donations of everything from gift certificates to a load of gravel ranging in value from $25 up to $500.

Items are auctioned off in blocks on the LRHS Foundation Facebook Page.

McPhail doesn’t know how many items will be up for auction as donations are still pouring in but says bidding opens for each item in a block at 8:00am and closes at 8:00pm three days later.

She says the auction will end May 31 so the money raised can be turned over to the LRHS Scholarship Foundation by June 1. McPhail says the group has set a goal of raising $22,000 this year.

“It’s a big goal but we do have a lot of community support.”

Since the auction began 24 years ago, the LRHS Foundation has awarded almost half a million dollars to over 400 students.

Reported by Ed Halverson 
E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson

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