St. Francis Xavier School's annual dinner auction: A night at the zoo for a great cause

SIKESTON — St. Francis Xavier School in Sikeston is gearing up for its upcoming annual dinner auction fundraiser.

Set for March 8, the dinner auction will be held at the St. Francis Xavier Parish Center, 245 West Front St., and according to head principal Jessica Hopkins, it is their biggest fundraiser.

“We depend on this fundraiser — for teachers’ salaries, keeping technology and textbooks up to date, our everyday bills,” Hopkins said.

Doors will open at 6 p.m., and the silent auction table will also open at 6 p.m. Dinner featuring Mexican cuisine will be served at 7 p.m.

The theme for this year’s auction is “A Night at the Zoo,” according to Hopkins.

“Every year we choose a theme to decorate and we thought this theme would be really fun,” Hopkins said.

Hopkins said the silent auction will close at 7:45 p.m. and then the live auction will start at 8 p.m.

The cost to attend is $40, which includes the dinner and drinks. Hopkins said it is a 21-plus event.

Hopkins said they will have many things at the auction.

“We will have baked goods, Lainey Wilson tickets and Cardinal tickets with a first-pitch experience,” Hopkins said. “We are going to auction off half a cow with a freezer included. We have Current River experiences as far as a fish-gigging experience and a night stay there. We’ll also have self-care baskets, tools and farmers’ soybean seeds and cotton seeds.”

Hopkins encouraged others to come out to the auction and support the school.

“We don’t get federal funding since we are a private school,” Hopkins said. “So the auction is to keep us running and functioning.”

Also for the live auction, Hopkins said the Knights of Columbus have donated a billboard space for the school to use off Interstate 55.

Up to four students will be a part of the school’s advertisement for one year and they will take bids that night at the auction, Hopkins said. The high bid gets one child on the billboard, and then they will take three more matching bids to fill the three remaining spaces.

To purchase tickets for the dinner auction, stop by the school office or call 573-471-0841.