Fundraiser benefits Fremont library

By Angie Landsverk

Hundreds of themed baskets will be for sale this weekend when Neuschafer Community Library holds its annual fundraiser.

The 18th annual Holiday Basket Sale will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov, 18, in Fremont’s village hall.

“It just seems to grow and grow and grow,” said Library Director Susan Frick. “It kind of gets a life of its own.”

The weeks leading up to the sale involve countless hours for the volunteers who put the baskets together.

They create themes for the baskets based on the donations the library receives.

Frick said just about every business in Fremont contributed to the fundraiser in some way this year.

The library also receives silent auction items and donations from businesses outside the area.

This year, there will be approximately 300 themed baskets from which to choose, as well as a silent auction and a raffle.

“They’re just amazing,” Frick said of the silent auction items.

The raffle items include a Christmas tree, lamp, quilt and a football that was signed by the Green Bay Packers’ players and coaching staff at the beginning of the 2016 regular season.

She said there are a lot of silent auction, raffle and basket golf items.

Proceeds from the event will benefit Neuschafer Community Library.

“This year, the funds will be going toward coding and STEM (science, technology, engineering, math),” Frick said. “Those are very expensive. We have a lot of families who come to the library. We will be making STEM kits.”

She said the library also wants to use the funds to make kits for those who have Alzheimer’s disease, purchase audiobooks for the teen patrons and to support the library Discovery Boxes and Lunch & Learn programs.

“It has made us able to give back to the public things we don’t have in our budget,” Frick said. “We can expand programs.”

She said the funds raised from the event touch all the library’s patrons, from preschoolers to senior citizens.

In addition to the themed baskets, silent auction and raffle, vendors and crafters will be part of Saturday’s Holiday Basket Sale as well.

Food will also be available.

Breakfast will start at 8 a.m. and lunch at 11 a.m.

Both will be served in the council room.

Among the items offered at lunch will be broasted chicken from Pier 5, as well as chili and barbecues.

There will also be a bake sale.

It takes a lot of people to organize and run the Holiday Basket Sale.
“There are so many volunteers who work at the fundraiser and contribute to the fundraiser to make it such a success,” Frick said. “I can’t thank people enough. We appreciate it. It is because of the fundraiser that we can do the things we do.”