An Auction of Promises

On the 20th November, the LUC Amnesty International Committee (SAIM) hosted a special fundraising event at De Klok in The Hague. In good spirit, students were encouraged to offer up things to ‘sell’ on the auction, with all the proceeds going to SAIM. Before the auction, the committee published a catalogue of all the promises on offer. The list included items such as music lessons, cake baking and a 3D printing workshop. Two members of the Programme Council acted as cheerleaders throughout the evening, keeping time between bids and entertaining the audience. Also, there were live music performances by members of the music committee during the bidding breaks.

Auctioneers and cheerleaders directing proceedings

Highlights of the evening included a frantic bidding-war between professors, which pushed a promise to cook three dinners up to a value of €120! The Dean of LUC placed the single highest bid of the evening, paying €400 for a student to paint his portrait. Other exciting items included a weekend at a ski lodge, a karaoke night with two staff members and a full Bavarian dinner. There was also a general bake sale stacked with homemade buns and cakes.

One winner celebrates their successful bid

 Furthermore, there was one long term offer which everyone was able to chip in to. If the audience contributed enough, one student promised to have his dreadlocks cut off! There was a counter-bid to try and get him to keep his hair as it was, but it raised less than the haircut bid, and so in the dreadlocks had to go. After all the promises had been bought, the grand total for the auction came to €1852.90 – a phenomenal amount!

A final congratulations to SAIM for organising such a successful event!

(Photo credits – Maja Vodopivec)