One of my daughter Rachel's best friends is a girl named Jenna, who is being Bat Mitzvahed this August.
She's a huge Cubs fan -- I swear, this kid has more Cubs clothes than I do -- and has managed to obtain a large collection of autographed baseballs, largely due to patiently waiting, along with her mom, for both Cubs and visiting players to sign for her.
One of the things that a young person who is about to be Bar or Bat Mitzvah does, in preparation, is a "Mitzvah Project" -- giving something of himself or herself to benefit the community. Last August, I posted about Jenna's first eBay auction of baseballs; some of you bid on them and won, and as a result, Jenna raised $3500 for various charitable organizations.
The first auction was so successful that she's doing a second one, starting next Tuesday. I'll let her tell you about it in her own words:
So many people said they loved the auction or missed the auction and hoped I'd have another. So, since the last auction I have been sending letters to players and teams asking for memorabilia. I think this auction will be better than ever. This time I have amazing hard-to-get autographs, including Hall of Famers. I even have tickets to the Cubs-Sox game at US Cellular. BEST OF ALL, a special friend donated a football signed by the ENTIRE SUPER BOWL BEARS TEAM OF 2006-2007. This is something all sports fans need in their collection!
All the proceeds from my auction go to Keshet. I am hoping to raise enough money to sponsor all the Back to School Kits for the kids at Keshet. The auction will begin on May 1, 2007 and will run for 7 days on eBay ending at varying times on May 8, 2007.
I have been assured by Jenna and her mom that if you click on this link in the next day or so, you'll get to a page where you can see all these auctions. This is all for a great cause, and I hope you'll check them out and bid if you're interested.