In March, the UW-Whitewater chapter of Circle K International set out to raise money for mothers and their premature babies without saying a word.

Specifically, the volunteer organization planned a silent auction event and combined it with a creative edge to raise money for “March of Dimes”, a national organization that helps to improve the quality of life for mothers and their premature babies.

“March for Mothers became our idea because of the fun play on words stemming from the ‘March of Dimes’ non-profit organization,” said Circle K International Secretary, Sydney Goldman. “And that we were holding the event in March.”

For junior and Circle K International Vice President, Yvette Arenas, raising the money wasn’t the only important thing — it was also important that the way the money was raised was enjoyable for all involved.

From there, Arenas settled on the idea of a silent auction.

“I wanted to do something big and fun,” said Arenas. “I wanted to get our campus and the community involved in this project. The solution? A silent auction.”

Even with an idea in the works, Arenas realized that she still needed something to sell to raise the money, which is where the UW-Whitewater Student Art Association and its president Cody Reibold came in.

For the SAA, helping out with this event was already part of the org’s mission.

“The reasons why I chose this opportunity to participate in with the Student Art Association members is because we are geared towards involving students around campus to engage with the community.” said Reibold.

With 24 pieces of art already donated, the idea of community and student involvement was a true success.

According to Goldman, it was not just about raising money for a good cause — it was also about raising awareness for other causes around the campus and getting involved with the community.

“Personally, I think this is a great event and fundraising opportunity to not only get Circle K’s name out there about what it is we do for the community and the good we do, but also bring awareness to a very great non-profit and other UW-W orgs,” said Goldman. “We have brought people from the community together, shown how volunteering can make a difference, but we have also brought something different to the table that has not been done before.”