Sports bidders raise big bucks

Ultimate Sports Auction brings in $50,000 to benefit families

Photo by Jamie Griswold Hutchinson Center staff and volunteers join broadcasters at 710 ESPN Seattle for the Ultimate Sports Auction.

It took only two hours for the Hutchinson Center’s first-ever Ultimate Sports Auction to raise $50,000 in support of the Pete Gross House and Family Assistance Fund.

On Oct. 20 listeners called in to 710 ESPN Seattle to bid on autographed sports memorabilia and exclusive travel packages donated by the Seattle Seahawks, Mariners and Sounders FC. A Super Bowl travel package brought in $13,000; a trip to London for championship soccer matches went for $7,000 and a travel package to baseball’s All Star game in Anaheim brought $4,500.

The Pete Gross House provides affordable housing, comfort and community to cancer patients and their families who require housing for 12 or more weeks. It is named after the former "Voice of the Seahawks," play-by-play announcer Pete Gross, who died of cancer in 1992. The Family Assistance Fund helps those who demonstrate a need for financial assistance with a wide range of daily, nonmedical expenses such as groceries, child care and transportation.

If you missed the broadcast and would like to make a donation, please visit http://getinvolved.fhcrc.org/goto/Pete.Gross.