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06656 December 8, 2006
The smiling spud
eBay auction of personable potato nets Darfur relief funds for Asheville youth group
by Toya Richards Hill
LOUISVILLE * The youth at Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church in Asheville, NC, never dreamed a luncheon to raise awareness and money for people in Sudan would turn into an internatio nal fundraiser with a “smiling” potato leading the charge.
But God works in mysterious ways, and apparently the Almighty is using a spud to do it.
The church’s senior high youth group held a baked potato luncheon at the church on Nov. 12 in an effort to bring light to the devastating conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan. The group of about 12 had been empowered to make a difference after attending a youth gathering at Montreat Conference Center.
Youth group member Caroline Wilson, a high school junior, “pushed the youth group on this,” and the students invited the entire church out to enjoy baked potatoes, learn about the Darfur crisis and make a donation if they wished, said the Rev. Aimee Wallis Buchanan, associate pastor for Christian education and youth ministries at Grace Covenant.
Then, while washing the potatoes in preparation for the meal, youth group member Nate Torrence spotted something extraordinary.
“All of a sudden out of nowhere there’s this potato, out of the midst of the others, that had this smile on its face,” Buchanan said. “They were like, ‘we can’t cook him. We have to keep him.’”
The smiling potato became a mascot of sorts, and joined the youth during their luncheon, which ultimately raised $2,280.
“It was amazing the outpouring of support,” Buchanan said of the money raised. “We were pretty blow away.”
But things didn’t stop there. The next day Buchanan took the smiling potato to session meeting, and it was suggested that the potato might yield even more money for the cause if it were sold on the online auction site eBay.
“The potato is on auction until this Sunday (Dec. 10),” Buchanan said. By midday on Thursday, Dec. 7 the bidding was at $112.50 * see A Smiling Potato.
The smiling spud, now tucked safely in Buchanan’s office, also has been featured on Asheville’s local ABC television affiliate, WLOS, and even on CNN.
“A little bit of humor and a lot of inspiration can go a long way,” said Buchanan. “How amazing that people could get excited around this; that just spreads the awareness around Darfur.”
“It’s like God is smiling on us and these efforts,” she said.
All of the proceeds from the luncheon and the eBay auction will go to Presbyterian Disaster Assistance for the relief effort in Darfur.
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