The 22nd annual Anne Fund Sports Memorabilia Auction, which raises money to provide relief to cancer patients, will be held in-person this weekend for the first time since 2019.
The auction will be held Saturday, April 9, at Hebron Catering Hall in Lebanon. Doors open at 5 p.m. The $50 event attendance donation includes dinner from local restaurants and a chance to bid on 20 unique sports memorabilia items, as well as silent auction gift baskets.
The auction was first organized 21 years ago in memory of Anne Gerhart, mother of former Philadelphia Eagles defensive back Tom Gerhart, who lost her battle with cancer.
“We kept the charity afloat the last couple of years with online events, but nothing can take the place of the excitement our traditional live auction,” said founder Tom Gerhart in a press release.
Items of note include: an Eagles jersey signed by Devota Smith, a Buffalo Bills helmet signed by Jim Kelly, an Eagles helmet signed by Jalen Hurts, a Penn State jersey signed by Lenny Moore, a Bills jersey signed by Lebanon’s own Frank Reich, and an item signed by Hershey-raised global soccer phenom Christian Pulisic. Find the full list of items here (PDF).
Auctions so far have raised more than $370,000 for cancer treatment and research. This year’s auction will benefit the WellSpan Sechler Family Cancer Center. Opened in 2016, the WellSpan Sechler Family Cancer Center offers chemotherapy, infusion therapy and radiation treatment and provides physician offices, a pharmacy, a massage therapy program, a spiritual care center, and offices for social workers and dietitians. Auction funds will benefit a massage therapy room at the Sechler center, as well as a cancer patient fund.
“My mother would be proud of all of us,” said Gerhart.
The auction first went virtual in October 2020, after the in-person event was postponed due to COVID-19 concerns in April of that year. It was held in a virtual format again in October 2021.
For more information about the event, visit the website or call 717-274-8790.
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