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Meet our Founder, the late Warren Bailey
Back in 1976, when Warren Bailey was starting his career as a morning DJ at WLNH, his mentor taught him something that has since changed the lives of thousands in the Lakes Region. “He told me, “The microphone is a powerful tool. Do something meaningful with it,’” Warren recalls.
It wasn’t a message Warren knew how to act on back then. He was 24. He had yet to glimpse need firsthand. But six years later, he knocked on the door of an apartment building in Laconia to let the resident inside know he’d won a prize for displaying a WLNH bumper sticker on his car.
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There was no furniture inside. A baby was lying on the bare wooden floor, wrapped in a blanket. Warren was confused at first, thinking perhaps this man at the door was just moving in. Warren then realized he was looking at poverty in the eye for the first time.
Organization
The Greater Lakes Region Charitable Fund for Children is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that helps community organizations in the Central New Hampshire region. All donations are tax-deductible.
The fundraiser that made $2,100 in 1982, has come a long way with the help of countless volunteers and donors. Today we have numerous fundraising events in the Lakes Region throughout the year that all support the Auction, including our four-day event every December. In the past four decades we have distributed more than $9.2 million to over 80 nonprofits that serve low-income families and children in the Lakes Region.
Annual December Auction
The Greater Lakes Region Children's Auction is an annual event held every December in central New Hampshire. The fundraiser made $2,100 in its first year and has come a long way with the help of countless volunteers and donors who have helped turn it into a major campaign on an annual basis. Over the 40 years that the community has come together, over $9.2 million dollars has been raised for local charities, all through volunteer efforts, community donations and corporate sponsorships.
Local companies support the Greater Lakes Region Children's Auction by providing cash donations, sponsorships, and staff, allowing employees to serve the community at the event during what would normally be work hours.
The Auction has more than 700 hundred volunteers and collects thousands of donated auction items from the community. The Auction buzzes with activity as phone bank volunteers cheer at over-bids. Items at the auction range from gift certificates to local businesses, sports collectibles, concert and sport tickets, autographed memorabilia, furniture, vacations, home décor, children's toys, electronics and great holiday gifts.
Everything is donated; phone service, lights, auction items, computers, the location where we hold the auction; all donated! Even the food is donated by local restaurants which provide meals for the all-volunteer staff throughout the week.