Auctions Freaks, a local auction house located in Hardy has begun donating a portion of the proceeds from each week’s auction to a local charity or civic organization.
The first recipient selected was Sharp County Skywarn Search and Rescue, (SCSRS, formally known as Cherokee Village Search and Rescue) and the organization’s Director David Woods was presented with a check for more than $600 earlier this week to be used for equipment purchases and more.
According to Woods, he was contacted by Tommy Ashcraft, owner of Auction Freaks and asked if his organization would be interested in being a recipient of a regular donation from the auction house.
“He has chosen four charities and holds four auctions a month. One of those charities will get 10 percent of what is brought in from the auction that week,” Woods said.
When asked why he chose to being donating a portion of the proceeds from his auctions, Ashcraft said he wanted to give back to the community.
“We will have a rotation of four. We have chosen the Highland Police Department, a food bank, the search and rescue group and the New Beginnings Pregnancy Center. I am still waiting to hear back from a couple of them. They will get a percentage of everything sold in the auction that a commission was charged on each Saturday,” Ashcraft said. “On months there is a fifth Saturday, we will support Comfort Keepers Ministry.
He also noted the amount of money donated will likely vary from weekend to weekend depending on how much is sold during the auction.
“Unless it is a slow weekend, donations will be in the $500 range,” Ashcraft said.
Woods said the funds given to SCSRS will help the organization tremendously.
“We have split off from Cherokee Village and when we made the decision, we combined the groups from Skywarn and Search and Rescue, to Skywarn Search and Rescue. This is going to help us to buy updated equipment and more equipment,” Woods said. “This is stuff we’ve been paying for out of our own pockets as members.”
Examples of equipment included updated radar, night vision goggles, radios and more.
“We want to thank Tommy at Auction Freaks for helping better our program. This will help us help the community,” Woods said. “Since we have combined our groups, we’re going to be traveling further and helping more people. Search and Rescue is statewide and we will also travel to the Bootheel of Missouri. Skywarn will stay to Fulton, Izard, Stone and Sharp counties.”
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