Annual auction benefits KENW television

The Portales affilate of the Public Broadcasting System is in the midst of auctioning off more than 1,500 donated items for its biggest fundraiser of the year.

Alisa Boswell: Portales News-Tribune

Sheryl Borden, marketing director for the KENW television station in Portales, goes through items for auction Tuesday at the station. Borden said the auction includes 1,500 items and is the station's biggest annual fundraiser.

KENW television station is auctioning off 1,500 donated items for its biggest fundraiser of the year, according to Marketing Director Sheryl Borden.

Borden said the auction has surpassed the usual item count by about 500 items in its 36th year.

"This has been a good year," Borden said. "With (the auction handled) online, expenses are less and we still raise the money we need.

Borden said the auction was previously broadcast live on the television station, but the last few years the auction has been strictly online. She said although many people miss having it live, it doesn't appeared to have hurt the auction's popularity at all.

It has mostly likely helped, Borden said, noting people from Rhode Island to California purchase items in the auction.

"Our biggest yielding category is always food," Borden said of the auction items. "We've had some interesting things before."

Borden said items range anywhere from food items and books to a gun polishing kit and a football signed by Green Bay Packers teammates.

She said in previous years, live horses, goats and chickens have been auctioned off.

"We do it each year to purchase programming," said Director of Broadcasting Duane Ryan. "If we didn't have the auction, there would be a lot of shows we couldn't afford to purchase."

Borden said budgets for shows runs between $385,000 and $400,000 annually, and the auction usually draws in $58,000 to $65,000 a year.

"I hope it will grow," Borden said of the auction. "When people come in and pick up their items, it's fun to see how excited they are."

Borden and Ryan said the KENW-TV station is one of three public television stations in New Mexico, with service area stretches all the way to Littlefield and Seminole, Texas, Tucumcari and Hobbs.

Borden's show, Creative Living, is aired on more than 40 PBS stations internationally.

"We feel our mission is to produce shows that appeal to the local public," Borden said. "We continue to try to do things that distinguish us from the other two stations."

Borden said the auction allows local specials unique to the eastern New Mexico and west Texas areas to be aired. Such specials include the recently began "KENW-TV Music Special," "Scam Alert" and "Wills and Testaments."

"It's the one place you can go and watch programs which are of special interest to smaller areas and specific venues," Ryan said. "We kind of think of ourselves as the public library of the area."

Closings for the KENW-TV auction:

• For items up to $100: June 5.
• For items from $101 to $249: June 8.
• Anything higher: June 10

* To bid on an item, visit http://auction.kenw.org.