In an effort to raise $60,000 to fund the MIT chapter of Habitat for Humanity 's first MIT Habitat House, the MIT Club of Boston is holding an auction on Feb. 2 featuring items such as alumni-donated services and a piece of the old Building 20.
The event, which takes place at the MIT Museum at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 2, includes dinner by Basil Tree caterers, refreshments, museum tours and a performance by the Toons. The entire MIT community is welcome, though preregistration is required; click here to register or e-mail Collins. The cost is $35 per person in advance or $40 at the door. Auction participants may also submit bids via the web site until Feb. 1, but winners must be at the museum event the next day.
Items and services donated for the auction include blocks cut from the original floorboards of Building 20 when it was razed in 1998 (each with a logo and the dates of the building's existence); original Baker house doorknobs; dinner with professor Steven Pinker or Noam Chomsky; stays at alumnus Peter Sexton's condo in Killington, Vt. and two hotels; a wireless modem; and professional help by alumna Aliki Collins in preparing and filing one patent application, excluding the filing fee (this is a high-value item, so bidding will start at $6,000). See the web site for a complete list.
Faculty members and others are encouraged to help by donating real or intangible items--for example, lab tours or specialized services. Anyone with something to donate should e-mail David Schannon at schannon@mit.edu.
Now in its eighth year, the MIT campus chapter of Habitat for Humanity has decided to sponsor its own house in Lawrence, to be designed and built by MIT students, faculty and alumni. To fund this project, the chapter set a goal of raising $60,000, of which $35,000 has already been raised.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on January 16, 2002.
