A virtual silent auction will be held by the Silver Wings team on Nov. 7 in place of their annual in-person Gift Galleria. This would have been the 14th year of the Gift Galleria, a one-day shopping extravaganza held the first weekend in December.

“Due to COVID, we could not have a gathering of 1,000 people all in one building together,” Silver Wings director Anne Bowling said. “We decided to just do the Silent Auction we normally do within the Gift Galleria, and change it to virtual so we could still have the opportunity to fundraise. We are using a service that allows you to submit photos, descriptions and item values and it puts the items in categories for us.”

Bowling said there is nothing negative about doing the auction virtually. They have a website where participants can view photos of the items and their retail price in advance. Participants can bid from the safety of their homes and they do not have to be local; family members and friends across the country can participate. 

“Finding vendors to make donations has been the biggest challenge,” Bowling said. “The economy is not in the best shape, and small mom and pop stores are really struggling. However, we did manage to get some fantastic items including Southwest Airline tickets.”

Each year, the Silver Wings are responsible for finding donations for the Gift Galleria, which they have also had to do for the auction this year. They assembled gift baskets to make the items presentable to potential buyers. 

“The funds raised from this event will go toward our spring show,” Bowling said. “We will be able to order costumes and purchase additional professional lighting.”