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Service Auction



 I asked if any of you had done this activity and many of you
responded.  Below are some of your posts.  Thank you all!!


Idea by Jacinda Toogood from Leicester, UK: I've participated in a Service Auction and they are a huge amount of fun.  Just last year our Relief Society held one as part of the RS birthday celebrations.  Here is how it was run by our Relief Society presidency....

 

For the month leading to it anyone could submit service acts to be placed up for action. These acts of service could be pre-made in advance or commitments to future service acts [for these vouchers were made up to present on the date with date and details of when service could be fulfilled, and by whom].

 

Then on the night of the event we filled out a questionnaire - I don't remember all the questions but they were along this theme:

 

thank you for attending our auction  = 10 points

do you read your scriptures every day

Have you prayed this morning

attended the temple this month

have you done your Sunday school readings

the temple work you do, is it for family

did you bring a friend

did you supply a service act for tonight's auction

 

The list as you can imagine can go on - with an unlimited amount of ideas that can be slotted in here.  Anyway once the questionnaire was filled in - depending upon how many and which questions were answered we received Relief Society Pounds [we're in the UK :o)], to match our efforts.

 

Then after our dinner etc...we had our auction - although we weren't given a list of things that were going to be up for auction [this would have been handy, but our RS presidency had decided not to do this to be sure everything went without only one or two big items being 'fought over', and then having the possibility of offending others who had contributed].

 

Auction items included crocheted blankets, quilts, baked goods like cakes and jams, boxes of vegetables for the future summer from someone's garden, vouchers for 'taxi' rides to and from destinations of choice, babysitting vouchers, vouchers for running and supervising a child's party, offers to do two clean sacks full of ironing, etc the list is endless really when you sit down and give it some thought. The ideas we had auctioned were creative and thoughtful and a success to the whole event.

 

The fun thing to is it make the event last longer as the service acts continued after the night, and well into months that followed.
 


Idea by Heather Matthews of Issaquah, Washington: Our Relief Society did a service action. Each sister signed up for a service that they could do: babysitting, special errand, free meal, one lady does massages and another one sews home decor stuff and helped someone do curtains.

 

When the sisters arrived to Enrichment we were given a sheet with things we had done (morning prayers, had Family Home Evening that month, read scriptures that day, told someone you loved them, etc). Each tasks had a point value. We did the honor system so no one really saw. Then you added up your points and you could auction off your points for that service. It was really neat and all the sisters were serving each other and getting to know each other more.  
 


Idea by Taunya Ferguson: I thought I had the Service Auction ideas in a certain place, but they weren't there. I'll do my best to tell you what we did.

 

First, each person filled out a little paper that said, "I (their name here), donate __________ to be auctioned to the 3rd Ward." or something like that. I'm sure you can think of something more creative. It was at least 4-5 years ago that we did this.
 

People donated such things as free babysitting, dinner at our house, vacuuming of 1 room, cleaning living room windows, mowing your lawn, a decorated birthday cake, a dozen cinnamon rolls, painting one room in your house, a day of fishing on my boat, etc. The service donations went from way easy to lots of dedicated time. Some people donated more than one item or service.

 

Second, everyone at the ward party filled out a paper and received a certain number of points for certain things they accomplished during the week. (They can't know any details before the party.) Then turned them in to the "auctioneer". The list included such things as:

 

1. Said my prayers each night (10 pt)

2. We had Family Home Evening (10 pt)

3. I read my scriptures at least 5 days (15 pt)

4. I attended the temple (10 pt)

5. Gave service to another (10 pt)

6. Read to a child (5 pt)

 

I think we had a list of 20 different things. I just made up the items and the point value.

After everyone was finished, they totaled their scores and then used the points to "bid" on a service.

 

My husband acted as the auctioneer. He told what we were auctioning off and from whom, (some people wouldn't bid unless they knew who would be doing it). We set the bidding to begin at at least 20 points. Then it just went like an auction. Make sure people deduct their points after "buying" a service. Give the service paper to the "buyer" so they can remember what they bought and who they are getting service from.

 

You will have to decide before hand how to allow the points to be used. We hadn't thought of this, but it was hard, because people with children combined all of their family's points and were able to outbid a lot of the older single people, which I didn't think was fair. The families didn't agree with me though. But that will be up to each individual to decide.

 

After we did this, our ward talked about it for months and wanted to have an Annual Service Auction. Do make sure to write down who donated what service and who "bought" the service so you can follow up to make sure it gets done. A lot of our service ended when people walked out of the church that night and it never got done. 
 


Idea by Lara Purdie (this activity is intended for Relief Society - ga09042006):  We recently had a Service Auction scheduled but I didn't feel comfortable with the "Auction" part so I made a few changes and called it a Service Swap.  I also thought that we might end up with hurt feelings if no one bid on the service that a sister had thoughtfully offered.

PREPARATION

 Preprint some cards (four to an A4 or Letter pages) with a picture of an angel and the second verse of "As Sisters In Zion" at the top...."The errand of angels is given to women; And this is a gift that, as sisters, we claim: To do whatsoever is gentle and human, To cheer and to bless in humanity's name."

ACTIVITY

Hand out the cards and have the sisters fill out some details about themselves on the back e.g. Name, situation details (married, single etc) likes, dislikes and then hand them back in.

Shuffle them and have them pick one out of the deck (they put it back and pick a new one if they get themselves). Then give them 10 - 15 minutes to think about what type of service they could offer the sister whose details are on the back of the card. Then they write the service they will perform like a "voucher" on the front under the verse of the Hymn and then they copy it word for word, below on the second half of the card below the perforation.

Have them all tear off the bottom half and give it to the sister they will perform the service for, this way they keep the top with the Hymn (the motivation to do it) and their service commitment and the other sister knows what they will be receiving (each sister ended up giving a voucher and receiving a voucher for service that night).

We gave them 3 months to do the service in and we'll have them report at our Christmas Enrichment so that we share the good experiences they had serving the other sisters and making new friends in the process.  The sisters have commented that this was one of the most enjoyable activities of the night and can't wait to do the service for the other sisters. It was one of the most simple to prepare but has created quite a buzz amongst the sisters.
 


 Service Auction from www.lds.about.com
 

 

This page was  last  updated: 
   November 26,  2006

 

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