Nord-Bridge Under Northern Lights Online auction begins Monday

The COVID-19 pandemic cancelled their annual gala back in April, but that’s not going to stop Nord-Bridge Seniors Centre from celebrating its 40th birthday.

The drop-in centre on the northside is making the festivities virtual with its Under Northern Lights 2020 Online Auction, which launches Monday at noon and goes to Dec. 9 at 9 p.m.

“We’re making the best of it and this online auction is just one way we want to get back some fundraising dollars we’ve lost so much on,” said Nord-Bridge Seniors Centre executive director David Ng. “Right now, we have 32 items and we’re going to be adding about three or four more. It ranges from eight or nine designer purses and some men’s fashion attire like wallets and some sunglasses. Most of it was donated through our sponsors.

“We have some great items such as some outdoor furniture and local businesses donated some gift cards. We have something for everybody and we’re hoping to supplement some Christmas shopping. Most of the stuff came local. A lot of the businesses that sponsored us are supporting local and when you support local you’re supporting Lethbridge and seniors in our community.”

Due to COVID-19 restrictions Nord-Bridge Seniors Centre had to cancel its third annual Under Northern Lights Gala and live and silent auction to raise funds for programming.

“It was scheduled for April 25 and our 40th anniversary was April 22,” said Ng. “That’s where we really wanted to highlight where we came from and all the people who made it who we are. The gala was going to be big this year, but COVID came. We were forced to close our doors to the public. We still had some staff here and we started rolling out some modified, limited programming around August. But we’re still not fully operational.”

Ng said Nord-Bridge has lost $15,000 to $20,000 in fundraising revenue and is losing more revenue by not being fully open.

They hope to raise around $10,000 with the auction.

“COVID has impacted everyone in different ways and we’ve definitely felt it quite a bit,” said Ng. “We’re really trying to make the best of the situation and we’re hoping we can come out of COVID with the same type of programming. We just want to be able to offer seniors a place to come and socialize. That’s one of the biggest things, because being locked in or isolated is one of the key things even before COVID happened. An isolated senior is probably the most detrimental thing that can happen to a person.”

The online link for the Under Northern Lights 2020 Online Auction can be found at https://www.charityauctionstoday.com/auctions/UnderNorthernLights2020OnlineAuction17182.

For more information, visit the Nord-Bridge Seniors Centre Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/nordbridgeseniorslethbridge or their website at http://nordbridgeseniors.com/.