Community Contributors: Jing Ying Silent Auction To Benefit Alzheimer’s Association

Nancy And Billy Greer Continue Charitable Doings In Their 14th Annual Silent Auction

The Jing Ying Institute of Kung Fu & Tai Chi is holding its 14th annual silent auction. Though past years’ donations went to SPAN, this year’s funds will be donated to the Alzheimer’s Association.

This isn’t the first donation Jing Ying owners Nancy and Billy Greer will have made to the association. Earlier this year, they formed a team in Jing Ying’s name to participate in the Walk to End Alzheimer’s. Among the members of the Jing Ying family who have been affected by the disease is Nancy’s mother, Cora Willard, who passed away in October.

The team has currently raised $7,445.

Every year, the silent auction begins at Jing Ying’s Halloween party and runs through its Christmas party, which will be held this year on December 16.

All items featured in the silent auction are donated from members of the community, including students at the institute and local businesses. A draw for the silent auction is the two-month period the items are on display.

“The reason we do it longer term is so businesses who donate can put out their business cards or other things, and people can see what they’ve donated for a longer period of time,” Nancy said. “We want to have it in a format that really shows our appreciation for what they’re doing by donating because it is very generous of them to do that.”

The items are also featured on the events tab of Jing Ying’s Facebook page and at www.jingying.org.

Though Jing Ying has partnered with organizations in the past, Nancy said she prefers doing fundraisers on their own so they “know exactly 100 percent of the money is going to” the cause.

“She’s always very diligent about checking to see who actually has less overhead and more of the money goes directly [to the cause],” Billy said.

The silent auction originated from an indoor yard sale Jing Ying held in 2004 to benefit those affected by the tsunami in the Indian Ocean.

“That became the genesis of having the silent auction,” Billy said. “Having stuff out on tables, people could see and look at it and bid and take. The difference was that at the yard sale, we had things tagged with prices so people could just come and buy it.”

However, silent auctions aren’t the only form of charitable giving the Greers participate in.

One of the more memorable fundraisers was a kick-a-thon to raise money for the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

“We did over 25,000 kicks. We had a group of people, so it was actually not just our students, but people from the community came out and signed up to kick with us,” Billy said. “Like a walk-a-thon, you had people sponsor the number of kicks.”

The Greers have also sponsored the Stride for SPAN Turkey Trot, the new playground at Jones Elementary School, the Shop Local Festival and Eastern District’s National Night Out. In addition, they donate an average of 75 gift baskets and gift certificates to schools, churches and organizations every year.

“We always say our vision is to improve lives and build communities,” Nancy said. “Everybody enjoys doing it. It’s a great community builder on a lot of different levels. Not just the broader community, but also the community of students. They really pull together. I think most people enjoy being part of something bigger and giving.”

Billy said none of this would be possible without the Jing Ying Institute and its community of students.

“I think one of the things we realized is, personally, we don’t have a lot of money to be philanthropic and make donations directly. But we realized that with this school, we are fortunate to have a space that lends itself to events and also a student body that really wanted to give back to the community,” Billy said. “Basically, it boils down to ‘because we can.’ If we didn’t have the students, if we didn’t have the facility, it would be very difficult for us to do these things. Since we have that capability, we should be.”