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ShareFest is a new way to shop for the holidays

Photo

Photo by Kyle Bursaw

ShareFest chairman Dave Mansur sorts through donations for the upcoming ShareFest auction in his office at the Pontiac Convention center, where the event will be held on Dec 3 at 6 p.m. More donations will be accepted on Dec 2 during business hours.

JANESVILLE — If you’re shopping for an unusual gift that doesn’t cost a lot and gives directly back to the community, look no further than ShareFest.

The Thursday, Dec. 3, event is a new fundraiser for the Janesville Noon Rotary Club.

But it’s also much more than that, said Dave Mansur, event chairman.

“It’s sharing in a lot of different ways,’’ he said.

“It’s people coming together in the community and instead of asking them for money, which everyone has less of today, we’re asking them to bring some of their excessive things to a central location and auction them off,” Mansur said.

Bob Johnson and his staff at Badger State Auction are donating their time to the cause, Mansur said.

Mansur, fundraising chairman for the local service organization, got the idea from another association of which he is part.

“The concept is really pretty simple and will benefit Rotary and all the things we support locally,” he said.

That includes scholarships, Camp Rotamer, Kids Against Hunger and Rotary Gardens.

A goal has been set to raise $20,000, Mansur said.

And that easily could happen, he said.

Already 75 interesting items, from A to Z, have been donated. That includes Skatin’ Place memorabilia, a 17-foot aluminum canoe, 10 Janesville Jets hockey game tickets, a two-hour limousine service, fishing rod and reel, wine basket, Pampered Chef items, a self-storage unit, mosquito catcher, books, lamps, Bob Hiller/Rollin Pin baked goods and vacation time shares.

But many more items—donated by Rotarians, local businesses and the public—are still expected, Mansur said.

“For some of our local manufacturers, it is conceivable they have excess inventory. But they also have a spirit of giving,’’ he said.

“We want people to have fun,” Mansur said.

“In this economy, our community has never been through a more rougher time in recent years,’’ he said.

Those who have items to donate should call Mansur at (608) 314-1181 by Tuesday, Dec. 1, so arrangements can be made for pick up on Dec. 2.

“If they can’t bring it, we’ll come and get it,’’ he said of his volunteer crew.

Rotarians have done a great job of stepping up and helping others, Mansur said.

But now, he said, “we need to reach beyond the edge of our local Rotary and ask the people of our community to help us with items and with resourcing the things we champion.”

TO HELP

Call ShareFest organizer Dave Mansur at (608) 314-1181 before Dec. 1 to donate your gently used items that need to be picked up on Wednesday, Dec. 2. If you don’t get an answer, leave your name, telephone number, address and list of items that need to be picked up. Mansur will call you back to make pickup arrangements. Auction items also can be dropped off between noon and 7 p.m. Dec. 2 at the Pontiac Convention Center, 2809 N. Pontiac Drive, Janesville.