 Hello, I'm Leslie McVane. Welcome to CTN Member Highlights. Today I'm here with Christine Neff. Gendrasco, I am so sorry Christine. You're the development manager here at the Cancer Community Center. Yes, I am. And you're You've been a member for a while. Actually, I'm kind of new to the position So it's it's really kind of exciting for me to jump in with this auction that we're having and Let's talk a little bit about some of the services that you offer here at the Cancer Community Center. Absolutely. We cater to the families and people that have cancer and have been recently diagnosed or have been living with it for a very long time and we Want to take care of them because sometimes they don't take care of them And so we would like to do that and we do that through classes we do that through Therapy sessions You name it. We do it and it really Makes a difference in their lives. Well, it's a it's a wonderful service to offer to families who are at a really tough Time in their lives and they don't know where to go and this is a little haven for people It really is that last week I sat in on a class and One of the women said she's like this is my happy place And so that just you know makes you warm and feel like what you're doing is really great So well, I know when I walk in the door here, and I've been here a couple of times It is a happy place. It's a place. You feel like you want to just stay Absolutely, and I know you offer cooking classes and events and just anything that a family might need As they're going through absolutely absolutely, and it's not a it's Goes through the ages. So if you're a teenager and you need something We're here if you're a mother or a grandmother, and maybe your daughter has cancer We're here for you. I think it's wonderful And you've got this online auction that's starting next week March 14th. Yes at 8 a.m 8 a.m. And it's going for 10 days. It is till the 23rd of March at 6 p.m I remember that and I'm excited just to see all the stuff you've got and this is just a Very very very small sample it is we have over 400 items, and we actually are adding more every day So once we get to the the opening day We're gonna have an even more amazing group of items to share. Well, let's talk about a few things sure We've got a seabag here. Oh my goodness the bag it came through the door and everybody's like I'm bidding on that We even have people out in Oklahoma that are looking at it, and they're like, oh, I love that I am bidding on that. Well, that's the beauty of an online auction. Yes, and bid no matter where you are in the world Absolutely, so if you're on vacation and you're in Europe for a week on college spring break With your family you can do it. Yeah, it's all via computer And we can tell all our relatives who live out of the state now bid on that and then we've got some Sports paraphernalia here. Yeah, great jersey that jersey is signed by the 1516 Bruins team, and we have a certificate of authenticity, so it's official and it's a cool And then we've got Some wine we have some wonderful wine You know people are always looking for something fun and exciting and who doesn't love a nice bottle of wine And so we've really been fortunate to get some great donations as far and they make nice gifts when you go Someone's house for dinner and a lovely bottle of wine, right? And let's talk about the trips Now we have one here that goes to I can't even read it. I think that's an island Yes, we had we're offering about five or six trips this year And they range from beach vacations to safaris and even a tour through a coffee Plantation in Panama, that's the one I love that I was reading up about it and they zipline through the trees And it's really it's definitely for the adventure some person right, but they're beach ones And when we have so many coffee drinkers here exactly what a great adventure for someone Yes, and then let's see what else is here tea. We talked about wine. We talked about coffee. Let's talk about tea You know what? Tuvana was fantastic this year. This is they're taking a couple years off from donating But they felt that we were such a great cause and That they would they would support us this year And so we've got some great teas and they smell wonderful when you open it. I opened it earlier Oh, and you know, it's just really and a little nice infuser here a little cheap. That is lovely Yeah, all right. Let's see. What else have we got the Celtics. That's it's a signed photograph of one of their players so and that's often Authentic as well and then we have a signed baseball from Brock Holt who Used to be a sea dog before he made it to the big leagues. Wow and speaking of sea dogs We have a VIP box for the Sunday game of Memorial Day weekend So it's a good way to kick off your summer spend the afternoon at the sea dogs on May 29th, which is really I love Just being there. It's just said summer. It's such a family thing, too It's just fun and you feel like you're at the Red Sox absolutely without all the the travel exactly Exactly right and the yarn is absolutely gorgeous. Oh my gosh, we have so much yarn To share this year. It's just amazing just the quality and it's fun Yeah, it's really fun more and more people are knitting too and some of the things that you can make and we really have a broad Range the best thing I've seen is the infinity scarves I want to learn how to do that and then there are photographs. We do we have photographs We have some artworks jewelry. Yes, and Everything. Oh my gosh, we have lots of beauty products and everything So now if people want to to go online and bid What would what do they do? They can go to our Facebook page Cancer Community Center and the online auction Link is there, but they can also go to our website cancer community center Dot org and the link is right there and you can even though it hasn't started yet. You can go in and pick out your favorite items and Choose what you want mark it and so when it does open you'll be ready to go And it's not too late to to donate something to the auction. No, we'll take donations right up until the auction starts you know, we want to be able to Get everybody's name out there and offer as much as we can because we're raising money for the center all of the Money that we raise goes directly to the center and all of our programs and helps so many people Oh my goodness not just in this area, but all over the state, right? Absolutely a lot of our donations don't just come from the Portland area It comes from as far north as Lewiston or you know, Bangor or something like that So we we're not just reaching the greater Portland area. We're reaching all of Maine with this Well, thank you and I hope our viewers will go online and Absolutely, I know I'm going absolutely and we'd like to thank our sponsors dead river oil company and New England cancer specialists without them We couldn't make this happen. Well, and without the buyers. We couldn't make it happen, too Well, thank you so much. Thank you so much for joining me today. It was fun. Yeah Thank you