STORY BY JASON GREEN, STAFF WRITER
PHOTO COURTESY OF DAVID ENRIQUEZ
Cypress College’s Photography Department earned a total of $2,014 in a Silent Auction Fundraiser for Maui held on Thursday, Sept. 28, in the Edouard de Merleir Gallery.
The auction, developed by former editor of the Cypress Chronicle and Cypress College alumni Pixie Iwata, sold photographs, art pieces, food and stickers.
While the pieces were displayed for viewing in the gallery located on the second floor of the Tech Ed 1 building, bidding was entirely online. This was to ensure auction accessibility to friends and family who did not live near. For those in attendance, musubi and stickers were sold as well.
Bidding began at 6 p.m. and the auction closed at 8:30 p.m.
The art pieces sold were created and donated by students, faculty and other artists.
The highest bid went to photography department lab technician and Cypress student, Jess Guillen’s art piece, “Hasta La Raíz #2”, which sold for $400.
“We are trying to make money for the people that are affected, especially those families who have nothing right now,” said Iwata, who has close ties with the Maui fire as she has family that lives on the island.
Iwata also donated photographs to the auction. One of the photographs titled “Waimea Beach 2023” shows pictures from her trip to Maui with her family.
The donations will go to the Council of Native Hawaiian Advancement (CNHA) whose goal is to “enhance the economic, political, and community development of Native Hawaiians”. The CNHA funds The Kāko’o Maui Fund which quickly deploys resources to help in the recovery of Maui, which at the time of this article’s development, has $7,151,388.67 in donations.
