More than $20,000 in prizes is up for auction online to benefit the Melissa White Legacy Fund.
This is in addition to a potential $20,000 to be raised from the Melissa White Legacy raffle, a burger and beer night with $12,000 in silent auction prizes and online vacation auctions through Facebook.
Melissa White passed away from ALS and Frontotemporal Dementia in March at the age of 30, leaving behind her husband, Jeremy, and three children Maddox, 2, Jordana, 4, and Alexander, 6. (Her story ran in The Times on May 29).
The Melissa White Legacy was set up by the Whites’ former neighbour, Anita McCarthy, to try to alleviate sudden financial strains on the family. The response from the community has been overwhelming, McCarthy said.
Because of the plethora of donations from the community, McCarthy created the online auction as well.
Prizes include tickets personally donated by Sarah McLachlan, Brett Lawrie, Vancouver Whitecaps, BC Lions, Harrison Hot Springs, Four Seasons Whistler and more.
To participate, sign up for a free account on www.32auctions.com, log in to www.32auctions.com with your username and password and copy and paste the URL (http://www.32auctions.com/MelissaWhiteLegacyAuction) into your web browser and start bidding. The auction closes at 8 p.m. on Sunday, June 17.
There will also be a Celebrity Scoop Night (celebrity to be announced) at Marble Slab Creamery, 305-6339 200 St., on June 20 from 5-8 p.m.
Limited tickets remain for the raffle and are on sale for $10 each at the Future Shop on the Langley Bypass, the Petro Canada gas station on 72 Avenue and 200 Street, and online by emailing whitefamilytrustfund@gmail.com.
Only 2,000 tickets are being sold, making the odds of winning very high, McCarthy said. Grand prize for the raffle is two round trip tickets anywhere WestJet flies. Second prize is a two-night stay at Black Rock Oceanfront Resort in Ucluelet and two round trip flights with Orca Airways (worth more than $1,600). Third prize is a $1,000 gift card basket from local businesses. Fourth prize is a Canon Eos Rebel T2i 18-55 mm lens, 430x speedlight and bag package ($899 retail).
Local chartered accountant Eric Nyvall has also donated several seven-night vacations in locations such as Aruba, Orlando and Kauai, with all proceeds going directly to the White family. These are currently being auctioned on Facebook.
Those wishing to donate directly to the White family can do so through the ‘In Trust for the White family’ account at the Willowbrook Royal Bank branch, 19888 Willowbrook Dr, which will be open until July 31.
For more information on the fundraisers, visit whitefamilytrustfund.weebly.com, the ‘Melissa White Legacy Event & Raffle’ Facebook page or email Anita McCarthy at whitefamilytrustfund@gmail.com.