Thanks to the efforts of many generous, community-minded graduate students, faculty and staff at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, more than $11,000 was raised to benefit the Isles Youth Institute (IYI) in Trenton, N.J., at the Eighth Annual Woodrow Wilson Action Committee (WWAC) Service Auction held Dec. 11, 2015, at Robertson Hall.

The WWAC is the graduate student government body of the School, created to provide students both a voice in the governance of the School and an opportunity to coordinate volunteer and community-service activities such as the auction.

The IYI was selected to be the beneficiary of each of the last three auctions, which raised a combined total of more than $30,000 in support of the organization’s mission to help at-risk youth achieve “self-reliance through education.”

More than 150 students, faculty and businesses donated more than 300 items and services to the 2015 event, which included both silent and live auctions. Popular donations included books signed by the faculty, as well as souvenirs collected by Graduate Policy Workshop participants during their field-based research activities over fall break.

When asked to highlight what donated services also were auctioned off during the evening, WWAC Service Chair Kelsey L. Montgomery MPA ‘16 said, “students offered everything from language classes, athletic or dance lessons to singing telegrams, custom sonnets and outdoor camping adventures. Faculty donated subject matter lunches and dinners.”

As WWAC Service Chair, Montgomery said her role was to oversee the event, while Julie Whittaker MPA ’17 and Conner Brannen MPA ’17 served as co-chairs for the auction itself. 

(Photo courtesy of Melissa McGinnis, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs)