For more than a decade, the Senior Wish Association has worked hard to improve the quality of life of seniors.

The local charity — with the help of local businesses A Touch of Class Auction & Appraisal Service — will host its second annual online auction to raise funds that will enable it to continue to grant wishes to local elders as well as purchase gifts throughout the year for birthdays and other special occasions.

Over the past few weeks, organizers have collected donations ranging from gift cards and certificates for local products and services to home decor, antiques and collectibles, small kitchen appliances and rounds of golf. , all of which will be auctioned from Thursday June. 9 and until approximately 8 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14.

All money raised from the six-day auction will go directly to help seniors in Simcoe County, noted board chair Patricia Imrie.

“The auction is a way to help us raise funds so that we can provide our wishes, our memory books and the necessities we have for our elders to make them feel better,” Imrie said. BarrieTodaywhile sorting a table full of given items.

Last year was the first time the organization held its auction online and it ended up being a huge success, she said, adding that they were able to raise $5,000 during of the inaugural event.

“We really thought it was a great opportunity, especially with COVID, to fundraise because it was virtual and it’s easier for us,” she said.

They hope to raise even more money from this year’s event.

Board member Krista Richards owns the local auction house and has donated her services to catalog all donated items as well as run the online auction on behalf of the organization, Imrie added.

“People always come to Krista when they have homes to unload, so what better way to do that,” she said.

The auction, Richards added, is a fun way to raise much needed funds for the charity.

“It (really gets people involved)…when they bid, they’re invested. Sometimes they want something so badly that they’ll keep spending $5 more to get it,” she said. “Plus, it adds to the variety of things we do throughout the year.”

Being able to give wishes to local seniors is getting harder every year, Imrie acknowledged.

“Funds are limited, but we use these (funds) for Christmas, we always try to provide a gift for every single senior. We have around 3,000 seniors who we gave out gifts to last year. year round we do things like (our) Spring Fling, where we gave them wind chimes… it allows us to do things more often.

Founded in 2011 by her mother Barb Richards, the number of people the Senior Wish Association helps has grown dramatically, Richards said. BarrieToday.

“The first year we did 75 goodie bags and we thought that was a lot. Now we’re up to 3,000. It’s amazing the generosity of the community and how they come together (for It’s not just Christmas, it’s all year round.