Baking a Difference: A Half Baked Auction for Sandy Relief!

Plans are moving forward for the bake sale auction to benefit victims of Hurricane Sandy! 

After a thorough review of the options, I've decided that the proceeds from the auction will go to the United Way Hurricane Sandy Recovery Fund.  My family has worked with the United Way on previous projects in our community, and I feel confident about their plans to support communities through the rebuilding and recovery process, not just in the short term, but in the long term.  Moreover, they have informed me that they will charge no administrative fees on donations to the Fund!  They are making cash infusions to community-based organizations currently unable to deliver at full capacity, in order to get them back up and running quickly so they can better serve the needs of those affected by Sandy in their communities. Rebuilding and expanding the capacity of these organizations are critical to overall recovery efforts.  The Fund will be distributed through grants to community-based health or human services organizations in order to bolster or create services that directly address the unmet needs of individuals and families adversely affected by the hurricane.  Near and long-term supports may include: basic needs, such as food; medical and mental health services; transportation assistance; housing and utilities assistance; legal assistance; and job retraining and counseling
 
Let's Bake a Difference for the Garden State!

Here are the details:

The auction will be hosted here on A Half Baked Life.  I will be posting all the items by Saturday, November 24th.  The bidding will open at 8pm EST on the evening of Sunday the 25th.  Bidding will close at 12:00 midnight EST on Monday the 26th (Cyber Monday!).  Please tweet the auction as much as possible, so that we get lots of traffic and bidders during the day!

Each individual item will (provided I can get this together in time) have its own page with its own comments section.  These pages will include information about the starting bid, and will be available for you to view by Sunday night.  The bidding will go on in the comments section; it will be up to you to refresh the item page to see the highest current bid and bid above that amount.

In order to be eligible to win an item, bidders will be required to leave a name and valid email address in EACH bid comment.

Your bid has to be at least $1 higher than the starting price or previous bid (if there are any) but can be as high as you’d like!  Bidding will go up in increments of $1 (not $.50, or $.25, etc.).

Now do I have your attention?

Comments/bids are timestamped; if you are the final high bidder, you will be notified that you won within 24 hours.  Timing of shipping for items won may be negotiated between bidder and seller, though we prefer that items be shipped within a week, and all transactions must be complete by January 1.  Seller will cover shipping costs.

Winning bidders must make payment and send their mailing address to me within 72 hours of the auction ending. If payment is not made, winner forfeits item and the next highest bidder is awarded item. Once payment is made and shipping address is received, winning bidders will receive contact information of individual in charge of shipping their item.

Please let me know if I've missed anything, or if you have any questions.

Spread the word!  There are some amazing baked goods on the way ... and there's nothing better than getting treats delivered to your doorstep for a good cause!