WESTFIELD – With many fundraising options put to the side because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Franklin Avenue Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization is hosting a virtual auction through Facebook from March 25 to 31.

While the PTO hosted another auction for the school in 2020, PTO member and event organizer Lisa Benoit said she had some different challenges to overcome when creating a virtual one.

“This is our first virtual one because of COVID-19. The biggest challenge was that we thought the best way to do this would be through Facebook to reach a larger audience, but there are people that do not have Facebook interested as well. We looked at a couple different websites, but you have to pay 5 percent or 10 percent, so you lose a lot of money,” she said.

With the funds from the auction, Benoit said the PTO wants to raise enough money for Teacher Appreciation Week and a potential Field Day if COVID-19 protocols allow for it.

“100 percent goes back to the school. Because we lost a lot of fundraising efforts this year, we are making a final push to make some money for Teacher Appreciation Week and a possible Field Day if COVID-19 permits,” she said.

From themed baskets, gift cards, and more, Benoit said there are at least 35 items for people to make their bids on.

“We have home décor, pocketbooks, coffee baskets, wine baskets, we have boys and girls Easter baskets, gift cards. I think we are right around 35 auction items, but we may even exceed that,” she said.

Benoit added that placing a bid on any of the items is as simple as going to the comment section beneath a picture of the icon and commenting the amount they would like to bid.

“We are currently sharing the event page all over the community forums and on the school website. The day the auction starts, we will post every single item individually and it will have its own conversation, so they go right underneath the picture they are interested in and the bidding war starts right there,” she said.

After the auction ends, Benoit said the PTO will be livestreaming from the school on April 1 to announce the winners

“Once the auction is over, we are going to be down at Franklin Avenue on Thursday, April 1 at 6 p.m. via Facebook Live to announce the winners there. They can make arrangements with us to either come down that evening or pick up within the week. We are asking for cash but there is a PayPal option,” she said.

Along with the auction, Benoit said any donations for the school are welcome and can be brought in the evening of the live stream or mailed to the school as checks made out to the Franklin Ave PTO.