In the spirit of fun-raising while fund-raising, Kingston North Kitsap Rotarians held its annual auction Feb. 11 at White Horse Golf Club. They also announced a major new initiative to support youth in NK.
The auction was sold out with organizer and club president Jackie Baker noting, “We must plan to accommodate more next year. More guests and more space for the silent auction items…Plan to double the size of our silent next year.”
Among the live auction items, notably, a new roof donated by Lambro Construction, fetched $10,000. Including the dessert dash for cash, the silent and live auctions, and raise-the-paddle to donate, the auction produced net proceeds of approximately $55,000.
Funds raised at the auction, and at the next club fun and fundraising event (the 16th Annual Swing for Rotary Golf Tournament, June 23), support Rotary’s initiatives to improve our communities here at home and around the world. Locally, we support the Kingston Boys and Girls Club, Scouts, Food4Kids, Kingston Cares, NK schools, Stillwaters Environment Center, Kitsap Homes of Compassion and more.
At the event, auctioneer Clint Boxman announced a major initiative being undertaken by the club: To lead efforts to build a 20-acre youth sports complex in the Kingston area. The vision is for outdoor fields for multiple sports, and an indoor sports facility. The project will need the support of the entire community, grant funds from outside and buy-in from multiple stakeholders.
Kingston continues to grow rapidly, but much of our infrastructure has not grown with it. Our youth have little access to fields to practice and play games on. They are left with practice times after dark, and families must travel to neighboring towns for all games. Kingston North Kitsap Rotary would like to see that change.
Club member Nancy Martin said, “This is not only a great opportunity for families in our community, but businesses as well. If we can host things like tournaments, it brings visitors from out of town to eat at our restaurants and shop at our stores. The sports complex would provide excellent opportunities for economic growth.”
Much of the visioning and research for the sports complex has been produced by Boxman. He laid out the scale and possibilities at the auction. Community members who would like to be involved in the planning, fundraising, etc, are encouraged to contact him at clint.boxman@ampf.com
Ron Carter writes a monthly column on Rotary for this newspaper.
