In its heyday, Art Buchwald sold the hat right off his head, Carly Simon incited bidding wars over the chance for a song and a peanut butter sandwich with her, and Clifford the Big Red Dog delighted people of all ages with his annual appearance.
The Possible Dreams celebrity auction has been the principal fundraiser for Martha’s Vineyard Community Services since 1979.
In recent years the auction has taken on a different cast of characters and celebrities, but the cause remains as true as it was at the outset more than 40 years ago: vital fundraising for the wide-ranging and ever-growing health and human service needs of the year-round Island community.
This weekend the Possible Dreams auction will be broadcast live via Zoom on Sunday and will be hosted by Seth Meyers, host of NBC’s Late Night and a summer resident of the Vineyard.
“You spend time out here and get to meet year-rounders as well as people who love the Island,” Mr. Meyers told the Gazette in a brief telephone conversation this week. “Both those groups of people told me what an awesome event this is and how important the auction is to all the good works Community Services does.”
Dreams up for sale this year include 18 silent auction items that went live online early this week. Then beginning at 5 p.m. Sunday, the live auction will offer up 10 dreams. Nine will remain open for bidding until 9 p.m. Monday.
The one dream that will close during the broadcast is for an MV 1 license plate. Community Services has been selling custom Martha’s Vineyard license plates since 2015, with proceeds going to support programs. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance to obtain a unique, low-number plate. It can be passed down for generations,” Community Services development director Mary Korba said this week.
Keeping up with Arthur is another dream. Marc Brown, the author and illustrator of the acclaimed children’s book and PBS series, has donated a Zoom classroom experience where he will join any class of the winning bidder’s choosing. The winning bidder will also receive a hand-engraved wristwatch Mr. Brown invited Community Services to design, along with an assortment of signed Arthur books.
BFFs with Seth is a virtual game night with Mr. Meyers. The winning bidder will get to invite three family members or friends to join the host for a game or two on Zoom. The host said some of his favorite board games are Codenames, Camel Up and Scrabble.
“Codenames is a new favorite of mine, I think we can Zoom a good game of Codenames,” he said.
Last year, the auction raised more than $400,000 for Community Services. Since the pandemic hit in March, Ms. Korba said the need has grown even more acute, particularly in the areas of mental health, substance abuse and domestic violence intervention and prevention. She said between March and June, the Island Counseling Center provided nearly 5,000 tele-health sessions.
Those sessions would not have been possible without donations that allowed Community Services to buy laptops for all its clinicians, according to Ms. Korba. The Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation, Cape Cod 5, the Permanent Endowment Fund of Martha’s Vineyard and MVYouth also helped provide critical emergency funding to support individuals and families on the Island during the pandemic, she said.
And an emergency financial assistance program has distributed $180,000 to 126 Island families experiencing financial hardship. The program is ongoing, Ms. Korba said, as the need continues to rise.
In addition, Community Services created Care for Community, a web-based volunteer matching program that so far has placed more than 120 Islanders with individuals and organizations that need support. Ms. Korba said she thinks the past few months have “really shown how essential Community Services is to the Island.”
Mr. Meyers, who began coming to the Vineyard more than 10 years ago with his wife, whose family owns a home on the Island, said his affection for the place has only grown.
“I like it a lot,” he said. “We got married here — we have a two and four-year-old, my wife grew up spending her summers here and she’s very happy that our kids are following in her footsteps. She always points out places where she has childhood memories.
“And . . . it worked out this summer due to the fact that I’m not in New York city shooting the show as I usually would. Hopefully we can have a successful event.”
To sign up for the Possible Dreams auction, go to the Community Services website. To register to bid for either auction, visit the Greater Giving website.
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