Stock Realty and Auction Company
View the write-up about Stock's Benefit Auction for St. Jude Children's Hospital
that was written in The Grand Island Independent newspaper. Just click on the clipping.
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St. Jude Charity Auction is a Big Success!!
In its third year of raising money for St. Jude's at Husker Harvest Days, Stock Realty and Auction Co. of St. Edward and show exhibitors had helped to raise nearly $100,000 as of Wednesday's charity auction.
The three days of auctions took place at at the Stock Auction Co. exhibit tent on Lot 133.
Ron Stock and his brother, Mark, started the auction company nearly a quarter of a century ago. About four years ago, Ron Stock said, they wanted to do something to give back for all the company's success over the years.
The Stocks' company conducts more than 60 auctions in the farm equipment, construction equipment and real estate industries each year throughout the United States.
"When you are having some luck at something, I have always been told that you're supposed to do something good for other people and something good happens to you," Stock said.
He said the company first came to Husker Harvest Days about 15 years ago. But because the company was still small, the number of contacts it received during the show was overwhelming.
As the company grew and more employees were added, Stock said, they decided to come back to Husker Harvest Days.
But they wanted to do something special with the company's return to Husker Harvest Days. In consulting with some of the company's office employees, they decided to conduct a charity auction for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
It's the enthusiasm of his company's employees about raising money for St. Jude's that has made the auction successful, Stock said.
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is a world leader in the fight against childhood cancer and other catastrophic diseases.
Founded by the late entertainer Danny Thomas, the Memphis, Tenn.-based hospital is the nation's second largest health care charity and unique in that research and patient care are under one roof. All patients accepted for treatment are treated regardless of a family's ability to pay.
"What I have learned about St. Jude is from the stories coming into our tent here at Husker Harvest Days," Stock said.
For example, on Tuesday, a visitor to Husker Harvest Days stopped by the Stock Auction tent and inquired why the company picked St. Jude's for its charity auctions.
Stock said the visitor then told Stock that their 11-year-old child had a brain tumor, but they didn't have the money to pay for the lifesaving treatment that was needed. They took their child to St. Jude's, where the tumor was removed and it took the child 18 months to recover. During that time, St. Jude's provided tutors to help with the child's education, which was also without charge.
The child is now 27 years old, married with two children and has a "great job," Stock said.
"This is an amazing story," Stock said. "This child would have died without help from St. Jude. That person told us what we were doing for St. Jude was fantastic. I have heard many stories like that. It's very touching."
A new employee at Stock Auction is Lonnie Korus of David City.
"Once I found out that they were going to do this auction, I hopped on board full time," Korus said.
He said he has a niece who, when she was 3 years old, developed a brain tumor. St. Jude's removed the tumor, and she is now 23 years old and "doing great."
"It's for these kids that we do this so they can have a chance at life," Korus said.
Stock said it has been exciting to see the employees of his company bond together to make the St. Jude's auction a success.
"It's a lot of work, but it's for a good cause," he said. "For about 30 days, everybody is on kind of a natural high because they have given of their time."
On Wednesday, about 200 people gathered at the Stock Auction tent for the charity auction.
One of the successful bidders on one of the more than 30 items on the auction block donated by the exhibitors at Husker Harvest Days was Russ Bayer of Howells.
"I came here (Husker Harvest Days) to look at the stuff, and I saw that they had an auction," Bayer said.
While he was a successful bidder on seed from Producers Hybrid, when he learned that the auction was for St. Jude's, Bayer said, it was like "icing on the cake."
Because it's a charity auction, sometimes the bidding goes up to as much as four times what the item sells for at retail.
If it wasn't for the generosity of the exhibitors and the bidders at Husker Harvest Days, Stock said, the St. Jude's auction would not be a success.
Each of the items up for auction is donated by an exhibitor at Husker Harvest Days. Some items, such as farm equipment, run as much as $10,000.
And Stock said exhibitors go out of their way to donate items for the auction without being solicited.
"The people who give to this auction are so generous that it makes it easy," he said.
Stock Auction employee John Buhl of Genoa said that, when the auction started three years ago, it took longer to put the event together because it was new. But it was still successful, raising $21,000. Last year, the auction raised $44,000.
Stock said his company's goal is to keep the auction going and make money every year for St. Jude's.
"Hopefully, it will get bigger and better every year," he said.
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To Learn More about St. Jude Children's Hospital ~
visit their site by clicking the image below.
