By: Sarah Winkelman
Laughter filled the back room of the Cranbury Inn last week as local moms gathered to raise money for a worthy cause.
"I’ve got $10, do I hear $10.50?" Mother’s Club member Jill Frost said, as she worked the club’s auction May 12. "I saw your hand move, that’s $10.50, do I hear $11?"
By the end of the night, the Mother’s Club raised $500 for Women Aware, an agency in New Brunswick dedicated to serving victims of domestic violence and their families in Middlesex County. The tally was an improvement over last year’s $300.
The money was used to buy books that would appeal to boys ages 5 to 12. The books were donated in memory of the Kishyk family of Symmes Court. Therese Kishyk, 42, and Stephen Kishyk, 11, died of injuries suffered in an accident Feb 23, 2003, on Old Trenton Road.
Last week, the 25 women gathered at the Cranbury Inn were there for the club’s annual Pound Auction, an event where each mom brings two identically wrapped gifts weighing approximately the same. One gift is a thoughtful $10 present and the other is a gag gift. In past years, a pound of sand or a can of beans were popular gag gifts.
The gifts are auctioned one at a time, going to the highest bidder. Both gifts are then opened simultaneously, resulting in one mother smiling and the other groaning.
Pink, blue, green and shimmering purple gift bags, as well as brightly wrapped packages of all sizes filled one of the tables. Ms. Frost held up each item, commenting on whether or not it was a light or heavy package.
"OK, ladies, this one feels like a gift certificate," she said, holding a flat, white package up for everyone to see.
The mom’s munched on homemade brownies, scones, chips and dip as the items were auctioned off, being careful not to move their arms unless they were interested in bidding on the item. Ms. Frost, in true, die-hard auctioneer fashion, noticed every movement the ladies made and considered it a bid.
"You can’t hold it against me, this is for a good cause," she said, as one mother groaned after trying to scratch an itch on her cheek. "We’re trying to raise more money then last year."
Two green and yellow boxes, one with a pink ribbon and the other with white, were auctioned off to Sharon Dredger and Valerie Ochoa. Ms. Dredger went home with a pair of flip-flops while Ms. Ochoa lucked out with a pair of sandals that just happened to be her size.
The gift that elicited the most laughter that night came in a blue bag with yellow tissue paper. Josette Karp and Lee McGuire were the high bidders after Ms. Frost caught Ms. McGuire scratching her forehead and considered that movement a bid.
Both women’s bags contained an envelope, but Ms. Karp’s had a real $10 bill inside while Ms. McGuire received a $10 Monopoly bill.
"Oh man," Ms. McGuire said as she held the fake bill high. "That was one very expensive itch."
Other gifts included marbles, a gift card to Williams-Sonoma, an eye mask, shower gel and an eye pillow, cleaning products, old potatoes, a Chinese take-out menu and a large vase.
Tara Guidi, president of the Cranbury Area Mother’s Club, said Pound Auction got its name because, in the past, both gifts had to weigh a pound. These days the only requirement is that they both weigh the same.
"This way there is more variety and less cans of beans," Ms. Guidi said.
In addition to the Pound Auction gifts, the mothers collected female adult and child personal hygiene items to donate to Women Aware.
Susan LeDonne, the mother in charge of picking which charity the auction will benefit, said she thought Women Aware was an excellent choice for a club full of moms.
"We’re a Mother’s Club so I thought it only made sense to donate money to an organization that helps moms and their children," she said. "This is also our May event, and since Mother’s Day is in May we thought it was even more appropriate."
Women Aware began 25 years ago as a satellite of Women Helping Women, a counseling agency in Middlesex County, according to its Web site. Today the agency provides services to victims of domestic violence, specifically battered and abused women and children.
Some of their services include emergency housing in a safe house at an undisclosed location, day and evening support groups, court preparation, job search assistance and transportation. The agency will help mothers go to court to obtain child support or restraining orders, as well as provide individual counseling and children’s programs with licensed therapists. All services are free of charge to victims of domestic violence.
For more information about the Mother’s Club, visit its Web site www.edusite.com/camc. For information about Women Aware, visit www.volunteersolutions.org/uwcj/org/946554.html.
