On Friday, May 21st The Friends Program hosted its 11th Annual Charity Auction. With the ballroom at the Grappone Conference Center filled to capacity, 38 Live Auction Items were sold raising more than $28,000 for the four programs operated by The Friends Program. In addition, more than $54,000 was raised specifically for the Junior Senior Friends Youth Mentoring Program during the Fund a Need portion of the event. In total, the event raised more than $124,000 with net proceeds of over $99,000. The support of our many wonderful sponsors and the community of people that participated in our event including the many talented artists, the volunteers and of course the generous individuals that supported The Friends Program through their purchase of art or a unique “experience/opportunity item” donated by Downtown Concord businesses truly made this year’s event a rousing success. With this type of support, The Friends Program continues to engage more than 1,300 volunteers in serving those in the community that are in need of various types of assistance.

During the recognition segment of the event, The Friends Program presented its James S. Doremus Award for volunteer of the year to William R. Matthews, Jr., Rector of St. Paul's School for his ongoing and active support of the Junior Senior Friends Youth Mentoring Program.

To see how much each item sold for, click here .

Here are a few stories that represent the 100’s of clients we serve annually whose lives are changed by the generosity and energetic bidding of event attendees.

Sue – Lynn was relieved when she and her family moved into our temporary emergency housing shelter. She thought it would be like a big gym with cots. What she found was an inviting “home” with friendly faces… fun activities to do and a chance for her family to regroup.

“Jessica’s” Dad is in jail, her Mom is involved with drugs… so she takes on a lot…. not much time for school work, she got behind. Grammy Sally volunteers at her school and has helped her catch up. She is now a more confident student and Grammy Sally feels needed and successful. A win – win!

One-on-one attention is our goal when matching children with mentors in our Junior Senior Friends program. Learning by doing, having someone to talk with when something exciting has happened or when life doesn’t seem fair, watching a movie and then talking about it over ice cream, laughing so hard that you can’t catch your breath – these are just a few of the many ways children who are referred to our program learn and grow together with their mentors.

Myrta is 72 and lives alone and does not drive. At times life seems daunting and lonely. Getting to her doctor’s appointments is a challenge and weighs on her mind. Peggy volunteered to drive Myrta to her doctor’s appointments – they became friends and Myrta feels more secure and her health is improving.