Our Major Fundraiser: Five Ways You Can Help

We’re all set for our fourth annual silent auction fundraiser, to be held Aug. 24 from 5-8 p.m. at the Haymarket Pub & Brewery.  This is a fun event—a fantastic venue, interesting people (including celebrity guest David Eigenberg, from Chicago Fire), bargain auction items, a bar full of craft beer. And so forth.

Special Guest David Eigenberg

We need to make a bunch of money on this thing. This is our only major source of income (we hope for that to change, but right now: it’s true) and the money raised at this event has to pay for everything we do at the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame. It will pay for our Fuller Award ceremony honoring Harry Mark Petrakis; a beach party celebrating the 100th anniversary of Margaret Anderson’s Little Review; sponsorship of youth writing awards; exhibits in partnership with the Sherwood Anderson Literary Center and other partners; our annual induction ceremony this Dec. 6 at Roosevelt University’s Ganz Hall; creation of a database of Chicago literary sites, people and books; and more.

Here’s how you can help out:

1. Buy a Ticket. They are only twenty bucks, and all that money goes to the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame.  You get your first beer free, other than that you’re on your own—Haymarket has a nice selection of food and of course a wide variety of excellent beer. Even if you cannot come, buy a ticket.

2. Donate Something: All the old standbys—restaurant certificates, theater and sports tickets, collectible

Peter Sagal at the 2013 silent auction, also at Haymarket. 

books, artwork, vacation homes—work. So do baskets—if you represent an organization, use that as a theme. Booze is always popular—whiskey, wine, beer, you name it. But don’t limit your donations to stuff. Whatever you do well can be an auction item. We’ve had people put on magic shows, give scuba diving lessons, create living theater experiences, make quilt wall hangings, offer handyman services, give private tours. We want something for everybody at the auction, all price ranges. Send items to me: Don Evans, 618 S. Humphrey Ave., Oak Park, IL 60304. Or else email me and we can arrange a pickup.

3. Be a Sponsor. We’ll produce a commemorative program that will include the auction catalogue, and interspersed throughout the pages will be ads for our sponsors. Everybody at the auction will get one of these programs, and we’ll also send them out to all the donors and supporters. About 300 programs in all. If you can be a sponsor/advertiser, email our treasurer Richard Reeder at richardreeder34@gmail.com.

4. Come to the Auction and Buy Stuff. It’s definitely a more the merrier situation. It’ll be a fun party and there will be plenty of whatnot worth getting.

5. Cut Out the Middle Man and Just Give Cash. We don’t get a lot of this, but we’d be really pleased if we did.

The trick here is simply to act: we’re a tiny nonprofit organization, and even a modest donation means a lot to us. Buying a ticket means a lot to us. Showing up means a lot to us. You can use one of the live links embedded in this appeal, or go to: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/clhof-4th-annual-silent-auction-fundraiser-special-guest-david-eigenberg-tickets-12113526885?ref=ecount

So do what you can and we’ll keep doing what we can.

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Donald G. Evans is the founder and executive director of the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame. He is the author of the novel Good Money After Bad and short story collection An Off-White Christmas, as well as the editor of the anthology Cubbie Blues: 100 Years of Waiting Till Next Year. He is the Chicago editor of the Great Lakes Cultural Review. He serves on the American Writers Museum's Chicago Literary Council and the committee that selects the Harold Washington Literary Award.


donaldgevans@hotmail.com