BRATTLEBORO — The Tag Sale Team of St. Michael's Episcopal Church is hosting an online auction to benefit the St. Michael's Interfaith Refugee Fund, with bidding open Feb. 19–27.
Offering curated donated goods, services, art, and experiences to bid on, the auction will raise funds to help facilitate the resettlement of Afghani people in the Brattleboro area.
“Many families and single adults have just arrived in Vermont and are getting oriented while they live temporarily at the School for International Training,” said organizer Liz Vick in a news release. “Eventually, they will be moving to more permanent housing, but they will need a lot of ongoing support, including financial help, while they begin to put down roots in Brattleboro.”
Soliciting from area individuals and businesses, the auction promises a variety of items to bid on from gardening help to handmade patchwork quilts, including gift certificates for woodworking classes at HatchSpace, music lessons at the Brattleboro Music Center; a pair of framed Chinese paintings on silk, haircuts and beauty products, and a selection of gift certificates.
“In part due to Covid, the tag sale group at St. Michael's has had opportunities to explore new ways of reaching out to help people in the community,” Vick said. “Welcoming many new neighbors from Afghanistan to the Brattleboro area is a compelling and exciting moment in our area's history.
“This online auction is one way we can contribute, and we hope that many local people will support our efforts by visiting the auction website and bidding on some of the great offerings. Of the funds raised, one-hundred percent will be used to support the families St. Michael's is cosponsoring.”
The Afghan refugee aid project is one of three major initiatives underway at St. Michael's this year. For more information, visit stmichaelsvermont.org.
The St. Michael's Interfaith Refugee Auction will be online only at 32auctions.com, a third-party auction site. One can access the auction at bit.ly/651-auction.
To browse the auction items, set up a free account with an email address and password. Items can be viewed until bidding starts on Feb. 19.
“The goal,” said Vick, “is to raise at least $2,000 for our new neighbors.”
For more information on the auction, call St. Michael's Episcopal Church at 802-254-6048, ext. 104.