Going once! Salvos announce charity auction

IF YOU missed out on tickets to Cold Chisel’s A Day on the Green at Mt Duneed Estate January 11, with Birds of Tokyo and Paul Kelly, The Salvation Army in Ocean Grove is auctioning off two tickets this Saturday, December 21.
The tickets to the sold-out show are among a bevy of items up for grabs at the Bellarine Peninsula Salvation Army charity auction, running from 1-2.30pm, to raise much-needed funds, according to Salvos officer Peter Hobbs.
“The demand for our services across the Bellarine, Geelong and surrounding regions is higher than ever. We currently provide many services within the community including financial support, food donations, outreach vans, welfare checks, domestic violence and disaster relief support, to name a few,” Mr Hobbs said.
“As you might expect we have a very long wish list of future projects we would like to undertake to further support the community as best we can. We were extremely lucky to get the tickets donated to us by Roundhouse Entertainment.
“The tickets also come with return transfers from Geelong. We also have many other fantastic items for auction including a cricket bat signed by the 2010 Aussie team, donated by Cricket Australia and other gifts and services donated by local businesses.”
The live auction will take place at the newly expanded Salvos Thrift Shop in Ocean Grove, at 6 Marine Parade, run by professional auctioneer Travis Smith from Drysdale’s Ray White.
“We run a lot of programs out of Clifton Springs working with chaplains within schools and Salvation Army officers. We connect families with the support services they may need,” Mr Hobbs said.
“We fund these programs ourselves. Everything we raise will go towards our services and inject necessary funds into our Christmas services. People have been so generous for the auction, we’ve been blown away by the support.”
Mr Hobbs said they were inviting everyone in the community to come along and bid for a great cause.
“We want as many people there as possible. It’s the first time we’ve done a live auction on the Bellarine Peninsula. There will be some fantastic items being auctioned from the store too,” Mr Hobbs said.
“We’re just trying to raise money so we can expand our services into other schools and parts of Geelong. The needs are rising, half the time people don’t know what we do, but we’re on call 24/7.
“We’re busy handing out food parcels, providing counselling, there’s such a need and we want to make sure we’re able to expand and be an even greater support to the community.”
For more information, head to salvationarmy.org.au/bellarinepeninsula.