Battle Ground Rotary Raises over $9,000 at annual auction

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2020 ended on a high note for the Battle Ground Rotary Club as it raised more than $9,000 at its annual Festival of Wreaths and Wine Auction.

Due to health and gathering restrictions surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, the club took on the daunting and new task of hosting the auction entirely online and raised more than expected.

“Our normal expectation for a fundraiser is about $7,500,” Battle Ground Rotary Club President Dan Hanenkrat said, explaining he enjoyed the experience of hosting the event online.

In a normal year, the club holds an event at the Battle Ground Community Center with live music, catered dinners and an in-person silent auction. This year, with the auction being held online, bidders were able to be notified on their smartphones when they were outbid, resulting in more competitive bidding and more money raised for the club’s philanthropic efforts in the area and around the world.

“The online auction allowed bidders that were not necessarily in our community but were aware of what we were doing to place bids,” Hanenkrat said, mentioning the auction had a few bidders from Camas and Vancouver. “We had a total of 65 bidders on the 54 items we were selling and sold all but one item.”

According to Dan and his wife, Becky, the single item that wasn’t sold was given to YWCA Clark County, “because one of the club members is very involved with the club.” 

Along with the normal auctions items such as hand-crafted wreaths, the club was able to create new auction items such as regional and worldwide wine baskets, a steak dinner with Battle Ground Mayor Adrian Cortes and tickets to a concert of local artist Amber Sweeney.

The Hanenkrats expressed gratitude for the number of sponsors that made the event possible, with emphasis on the event sponsor Your Insurance Gal Agency. The duo said the event would “not be possible” without agency owner Stacey Johnson sponsoring the event, and the club is already looking for a 2021 event sponsor. 



Along with Johnson and her agency, the event had numerous other local sponsors and donors, such as Battle Ground Natural Healing, Emanar Cellars and Lumos Hearth and Home. All money raised from sponsorships will be used by the club for its nonprofit efforts, such as work with the North County Community Food Bank, Battle Ground Healthcare and the work the club does overseas in Kenya sending kids to school. The Hanenkrats said the club will also save some of the funds raised in order to have “money put away for spontaneous efforts” like the funds the club spent this year to help victims of the 2020 wildfires.

“Having money in our foundation makes it possible for us to do spontaneous stuff,” Dan Hanenkrat said. 

For next year, the Hanenkrats said the club hopes to host the event in person. However, they said the club wants to implement a few of the tactics used by the club for the online auction, such as the online bidding and various auction items.

Becky Hanenkrat said the club may look at “something like a four-day auction with a live event and dinner in the middle” to bring back the in-person experience the club loves while also making the bidding experience better. 

While it is not set in stone that the 2021 auction will be in person, the Hanenkrats are hopeful.

“We like the best of both worlds,” Becky Hanenkrat said. “We like to do the in person event to give the community something fun to do at Christmastime.”