Job Trainees Help Tsunami Victims Through Charity Auction.

SUSQUEHANNA VALLEY, Pa. -- Lancaster, PA Boys and Girls Club job trainees, working for Auction Inn, are participating in disaster relief efforts benefiting the tsunami victims. A new class of the WORK-ABLE job skills training program has begun at Auction Inn in Lancaster and unlike previous classes these Boys & Girls Club members will be given the opportunity to work hands-on with area businesses and organizations as they support the disaster relief efforts underway to aid the victims of the tsunamis across Asia. This new class will help track goods and services donated by the local community for the online charity auction held now until the end of January. Trainees will track items from drop-off to sale on eBay as they learn the ins and outs of technical writing, research, digital photography, image editing, packaging and shipping and inventory management. The new class is eager to learn how their efforts will make a difference with the tsunami relief effort by encouraging members of the community, fellow Club members and their families to donate items.

Shirley Mertz, Training Program Director, explains, "WORK-ABLE was designed with the help of corporate partners such as UPS, QVC, Bosch and Manheim Auto Auction, to develop marketable job skills for members of the Boys and Girls Club."

The trainees' effort is part of a larger initiative spearheaded by local companies Commerce Bank, Emerald Asset Management, United Sleep Products, and many others, giving people an alternative to making a monetary donation, a difficult task for many families after the holidays. Donations to date include a generous $3,000 from Emerald Asset Management, four futons from United Sleep Products, golf clubs by Golf Tech, iPods, hair care products by Aveda, and individual donations of electronic equipment.

Individuals, businesses and organizations can help support the ongoing Red Cross disaster relief operation by donating goods and services worth $25 or more at drop-off locations, including select Commerce Bank branches, or by purchasing donated items at www.auctioninn.com. Donated items will be placed for sale on eBay through Auction Inn, the area's only eBay(R) authorized Trading Post. Ninety percent of all purchases will go directly to the Red Cross to support the ongoing disaster relief operation in South Asia. The remaining ten percent will cover eBay fees.

Donated goods may be dropped off at the Auction Inn location at 241 West Lemon Street in Lancaster and select Commerce Bank locations:

Harrisburg Area:
 Downtown Harrisburg     Camp Hill Mall          Union Deposit
 101 N. Second Street    3201 Trindle Road       3951 Union Deposit Rd
 Harrisburg, PA 17101    Camp Hill, PA 17011     Harrisburg, PA 17109

York:
 Route 30
 55 Arsenal Road
 York, PA 17404

Please call [phone] for additional drop-off locations, or to schedule the pick-up of large and multiple items. Auction Inn, an authorized eBay Trading Post will work closely with area Boys and Girls Clubs and other corporations to schedule and man drop-off locations for donated items.