As promised by the flier, whether residents called it a penny auction or a tricky tray, it didn’t matter – everyone had a good time at the Bay Ridge Mental Health Council’s annual auction fundraiser, held on Friday, April 17 at the Fort Hamilton Clinic, 8710 Fifth Avenue.
“What we do is we run an annual auction to raise money for the patients because what happens is the state is given X amount of dollars and, whenever there’s a cut, the first place they cut is mental health,” explained Ralph Perfetto, president of the Bay Ridge Mental Health Council, “and when it comes to people of mental illnesses, they can’t go out there and lobby for themselves. It falls in the laps of the advocates.”
And so steps in the council, he said.
“So many people quietly do their job and show us so much support,” Perfetto said. “All of the gifts we get for the auction — all of the food and all of the prizes — are donated by local merchants and the money that we raise goes directly to the clinic.”
Just $15 got attendees entrance to the event, 15 prize tickets and access to light refreshments. All proceeds went directly to the Fort Hamilton Clinic of the South Beach Psychiatric Center, in hopes of enhancing the clinic’s experience for its patients in the future.
“The event went very well,” Perfetto added, stressing that the auction – once again – saw a capacity crowd that drew in several thousand dollars. “Not one penny goes to the administration; it all goes to the patients.”