Community Care seeks auction donations

Vashon Community Care (VCC) is getting ready for its annual Labor of Love online auction, which will start at noon, Wednesday, Jan. 27, and will run for two weeks, ending at noon on Wednesday, Feb. 10. VCC is seeking donations of items and services to include in this auction.

In the Labor of Love Auction, now in its 10th year, Islanders bid on items or services that are made or performed by their Island neighbors. Services in the past have ranged from homemade cookies to ethnic dinners for eight, tractor work to garden tours and knitting lessons to kayaking lessons. There are many items to bid on as well, including gift certificates, jewelry, artwork and wine.

Auction items and services may be donated directly online at www.LaborofLoveVashon.org. Or people can pick up a Labor of Love donation form at Vashon Community Care or call 567-4421 to request one through the mail or e-mail. Each item is featured on the Labor of Love Web site with a photo of the item or service being auctioned.

The deadline for donating, to be included in the auction when it starts, is Monday, Jan. 25. However, people can continue to donate items even during the two weeks when the auction is running, as it is an online auction. Their item will post as soon as it’s donated.

All proceeds from the Labor of Love Online Auction benefit Vashon’s nonprofit senior living facility, Vashon Community Care.

VINES launches e-mail-only fundraiser

A new group created to raise funds for the Interfaith Council on Homelessness will launch a fundraising effort this week that will seek donations only via e-mail.

Vashon Island Network for Essential Services, or VINES, expects to send out the appeals to around 1,000 Islanders. The approach is part of the group’s effort to raise money for the council with as little overhead cost as possible and without using paper, said Islander Janie Starr.

VINES, a project of Sustainable Vashon, has already raised $8,000 for the council, which provides emergency assistance — covering such costs as rent, car repairs and utility bills — for the working poor on Vashon. The group hopes to raise $20,000 for the council this year, Starr said.

Donations can be made online by visiting Sustainable Vashon’s Web site at www.sustainablevashon.org. All of the donations go directly to the Interfaith Council, Starr said.

VIPP pet calendars still available

Vashon Island Pet Protectors’ 2010 Pet Calendar is still available for $15 at the following locations: Pandora’s Box, The Vashon Bookshop, Fair Isle Animal Clinic and Books by the Way.

Donations sought for senior center auction

Donations for Vashon Senior Center’s major fundraiser, a dinner and auction Feb. 27, will be gratefully received at the center on Bank Road from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Make paper cranes during Day of Service

Islander and origami-artist Alice Larson, in honor of the official Day of Service on Monday, Jan. 18, is organizing a service project.

She invites Islanders to join her in making origami paper cranes, which would then be distributed to on- or off-Island organizations or facilities, as decided by the group that gathers.

Larson, who owns Island Paper Chase in Vashon Village, said she’ll provide the materials, including recycled paper. Once she knows the size of the group, she’ll determine the location and let those who have contacted her know where they’ll meet. Children are welcome, though it’s not meant as “a project just for kids.”

Larson said she did a similar project in Washington, D.C., last year, “and for those involved, it turned out to be both enjoyable and worthwhile.” The Day of Service is a national call to service held on Martin Luther King Day.

Those interested should call Larson at 463-9000 by Friday, Jan. 15.