By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
While the event is not until August, the Barton Community College Foundation revealed one of their specialty items to be given away at the Big Benefit Auction. The money raised from the event supports academic scholarships and enhancements to programs and facilities. Along with a silent auction, Executive Director of Institutional Advancement Lindsey Bogner said the first live auction package will be four VIP tickets to The Price is Right show.
"We have all of our local community members and donors come together and put together a really cool set of things and packages," said Bogner. "It's stuff you can't go buy anywhere else. Every dollar goes into our scholarships and projects funds. Not only do you get to have fun and possibly go to The Price is Right, but you get to pay for students to go to school."
The Price is Right gameshow will conduct a recording in Wichita at Hartman Arena. While the tickets do not guarantee you will be a contestant, they will seat you in the second row in the audience.
The Big Benefit Auction is the most successful and longest-running fundraiser for the Barton Foundation. Bogner wants to make sure sponsors and donors truly feel the impact they make for the students.
"I want that appreciation to be front and center when people are thinking about supporting the Foundation," said Bogner. "We don't always get to see the impact we have, especially when you're talking about education because it's not a tangible thing. The gratitude that those students feel for those scholarships is definitely a tangible thing. I want to make sure that people that are helping us understand that."
The 45th Annual Big Benefit Auction will take place Aug. 24.