Moses Lake Festival of Trees is a success
Courtesy photo<br> The family receiving a Habitat for Humanity of Greater Moses Lake home stands with volunteers as they examine their land.
MOSES LAKE — About $45,000 was raised to build a home for a family of six at the Festival of Trees auction Saturday.
A large supply of items and help from the community contributed to the success of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Moses Lake’s event, said auction chair Curtis Robillard.
“It went fantastic. It was just a fun evening,” Robillard said, “We were a little bit down in the number of people that showed up, but we had more items donated to us this year than normal.”
There were about 180 people at the auction.
“I never have a money goal,” Robillard said. “My goal is always to put on a function for Habitat that is fun, that people want to come back to and that raises some money for our cause.”
Items for the silent auction consisted of a fly fishing trip and basketball tickets to a Washington State University game. Live auction pieces included a power broom and Olympic medallions.
“The highlight item of the evening was a rusted metal sculpture of Herons and cattails,” Robillard said. “It was something you placed in your flower bed and it was very beautiful.”
The sculpture sold for $1,900. Two trees had a high bid of $1,500 each.
“All the money we raised goes toward building our 10th home,” Robillard said.
The Housing Authority of Grant County sold Habitat the lot for the 10th house at half it’s cost. Habitat members have finished the layout and design of the home with it’s recipients and are working on getting a permit.
“What we need now is for a group, who is willing to help us work, to put in the foundation, the floors and everything else that goes into it,” Robillard said. “We are aiming to finish building the house by August or September of next year.”
Robillard said the auction encourages many people to volunteer to help build homes each year.
“We had people hand us their business cards and say they wanted to help out,” he said. “We also already have people signing up to decorate trees for next year.”
The decorated trees up for bid are Robillard’s favorite part of the auction.
“It’s always fun when I get to deliver the trees to the people that bought them the next day,” he said. “Sometimes we deliver it to people that had no idea they were getting one because another family purchased it for them. We always get the biggest hugs when we drop off the trees.”
Robillard said the event would not have been possible without the help of the community.
“The community is responsible for everything and I can’t thank them enough for donating all those items,” he said. “There are families in need in this town and the only way for us to help build these homes is to group together and utilize our resources.”
Habitat is still in need of volunteers and money donations.
“There is always work to do,” Robillard said.
People can call or write Habitat at 509-764-0160 or 601 S. Pioneer Way, Suite F PMB-278, Moses Lake, WA, 98837.
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