Men auctioned off to benefit Relay for Life
The highest bid placed was $200.
Published Dec. 10, 2010
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A date with senior Paul Schulz, a member of the Beta Sigma Psi Fraternity, is auctioned off at the Sisters of the Golden Rose date auction Wednesday evening at Memoir. Schulz was eventually sold off for $160, which will benefit Relay for Life.
Men’s shirts flew off and women’s auction cards flew up at the Little Sisters of the Gold Rose’s third annual date auction Wednesday evening at Memoir.
The Little Sisters of the Gold Rose is a women’s non-Greek community service organization partnered with the Beta Sigma Psi fraternity. The women raise money annually to donate to Relay for Life.
“Our number one philanthropy is Relay for Life, and it’s always been that way,” event organizer Kaitlin Oxenreider said. “All of the fundraising we do goes to Relay for Life. About 10 of the sisters are on the Relay for Life Steering Committee, so it kind of goes hand in hand.”
Junior Taylor Sandelin said she has seen the program grow since her freshman year.
“It’s a work in progress for us,” Sandelin said. “We’re trying to make it a really big campus-wide event. I just feel like it’s really different than any philanthropy-type thing that I’ve heard of since I’ve been at Mizzou.”
Emceed by sophomore Jim Grundy, the event brought 26 men on stage to flaunt their looks and personality.
“Tonight, we’re here for several reasons,” Grundy said. “But mostly because we hate cancer.”
Bidding started at $10 for each man. Some were sold for $15, but others were sold for $200. The organization garnered more than $1,500 at the event, Sandelin said. She expects this number to approach $2,000 after all of the funds have been collected.
“We didn’t even really have that many people there,” Sandelin said. “If we could make this event even better in the future, imagine how much money we could raise.”
In the past, Oxenreider said the men auctioned were all from the Beta Sigma Psi fraternity, but this year she chose to reach out to all of MU’s fraternities.
“I didn’t turn anyone away,” Oxenreider said. “The more guys we had, the more money we could make.”
Oxenreider said she thought the night was a success. In the spirit of the night’s purpose, Memoir’s bartenders climbed on top of the bar and auctioned themselves off to the women.
“It looked like everyone was having a great time, especially when the bartenders got up on the bar,” Oxenreider said. “It was like a ‘Coyote Ugly’-style thing,” Oxenreider said with a laugh.
After the transaction was complete, the couples swapped contact information. The women were given a gift bag with a gift card to fund the couple’s rendezvous, or provide the purchaser with solace if her purchase neglects to call her back.
Oxenreider said the event is the organization’s biggest fundraiser of this semester. She said LSGR holds two big fundraisers per semester. The spring event could be a bar crawl, she said, but it’s open to discussion.
Sandelin said she hopes to attract more than just members of LSGR to the event, as it would allow more money to be raised.
“We’ve had these events in the past, but then only people from our organization go, and then it’s really not a fundraiser,” Sandelin said. “We’re really trying to get our events out to the campus, so we can get more people involved rather than just our organization.”
The events will help the organization collect more money to donate to Relay for Life, which will be held at the Student Recreation Complex on March 19.
“This year, I’m almost sure we’re going to raise $6,000 or $7,000 because of all of the fundraising we’ve done,” Oxenreider said. “Our goal is still $5,000.”