Community stacks up the cash: Food 4 Kids auction clears $71K for child hunger

Jul 07, 2023

With auction paddles raised high and a common goal in mind, community leaders said they worked together to meet children where they are, both emotionally and physically, as well being the light needed in their lives.

The annual Food 4 Kids Auction gathered Friday, Aug. 18, in a colorful room full of Lego decor, where community members stepped up to the challenge to raise funds with a live and silent auction at the Duncan Golf and Tennis Club.

With the motto, “learning begins when hunger ends,” the annual event demonstrated ways the program provides food to students, as statistics show one in four children in Oklahoma go to bed hungry.

Sandy Stewart said this year’s auction cleared $71,000 with funds still coming in from the Round Up Program and Dollar for Dollar Match.

Stewart said each year they host this auction she walks away thinking how will they ever top what they just did from their sponsorships, their donors, for all of the decorations, as well as the generous attendees who show up each year.

“Then, come the following year, I’m blown away at how this town exceeds our expectations,” she said. “This auction was no exception.”

Chrisie Young, librarian at Horace Mann Elementary and committee member, said each year Duncan residents never fail to continue to show up and support community kids.

“I had tears and chills throughout the night,” she said. “You could just feel this auction was going to be a good one from the very beginning.”

Young said she’s extremely proud to serve on the auction committee with everyone involved, and she loves how they can help meet a need for Duncan students.

As always, the Friday night Food 4 Kids Auction saw a plethora of speakers throughout the event.

Duncan High School Principal Lisha Elroy said it’s no secret how big her passion is for this program.

Elroy has been part of the committee for around 15 years, and she’s always excited for each year that she gets to participate.

“It’s such a blessing for me to serve on this committee,” she said.

Elroy said every donation feeds actual kids who these teachers see and teach every day in Duncan Public Schools.

She then introduced two teachers, Alice Bridges and Cortni Green, who expressed how much this program impacts students.

The first of the speakers was Bridges, a counselor with Mark Twain Elementary, who said the program means so much to their school.

“I give out about 40 bags a week,” she said. “It’s very important my kids have them.”

She said she recently asked her students to write down what is important to them.

According to Bridges, some of the student responses included: Families were able to purchase more food to put into the fridge, because the kids bring home food; kids love the food in the bags; the food has helped kids when parents are waiting on food stamps; the food has helped kids when their family has been low on money and the food bags help with more food and snacks to share.

Bridges said it’s important to let these kids know they are seen and loved and she’s grateful when people are able to give back, especially since her school is a little lower income school.

Next, Green, a second year teacher at Emerson Elementary, said it’s so important when the community comes together for programs such as this.

Green said she taught third grade last year and loved her class of 28, and of those kids, about nine of them took home food bags.

“Everybody knows, if you’re trying to teach a child something, it’s hard to do it when their tummy’s are empty,” she said.

According to Green, throughout the year if they have an extra bag of food she would be able to distribute snacks to kids who she notices are hungry.

“We all know how important education is,” she said. “Education goes hand-in-hand with what that student turns into as an adult. We know that the lack of education later turns into poverty, later could turn into bad decisions, like drugs and crime.”

She said the support given during this auction, not only helps these children individually in the district, but also helps the child for future generations to come.

Kimber Budowsky emceed the night, along with Todd Robinson, auctioneer of Land Pros and Kenny Baker from Marlow who helped move the auction along. Budowsky said she’s been apart of this auction for about 10 years and this is her favorite night of the year.

“It’s a great time to be super proud of our community,” she said.

Budowsky said their main purpose for the night is to help kids.

“We set records for the State of Oklahoma in this room the last couple years,” she said.

She said one thing she did learn is Woodrow Wilson has 90% of its students eligible for the program and they only have enough money to feed 80 of them.

According to Budowsky, there are many children who eat lunch on Friday, go home and won’t get another meal until Monday.

Stewart thanked Duncan for continuing to rise to the occasion.

“Thank you for coming back year after year and giving from your hearts to continue the good fight which ensures that one day there will be no hungry children in our community,” she said.

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