Campus & Community

PBHA auction set for April 24

2 min read

Proceeds support student-run summer camps that benefit more than 800 local children

The 9th Annual SUP Auction, sponsored by the Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA), will be held April 24, 5:30-8:30 p.m., in the Cambridge Queen’s Head Pub. Auction proceeds go directly toward supporting PBHA’s Summer Urban Program (SUP), a network of 12 student-run summer camps that benefit more than 800 children in Boston and Cambridge. The event is a silent auction followed by a live auction, which usually earns $50,000-$70,000 and attracts approximately 300 Harvard faculty, alumni, and affiliates.

Each year, SUP employs approximately 150 college students and 100 local high schoolers, an undertaking that requires significant time, planning, and resources that account for approximately 40 percent of PBHA’s overall budget. The auction provides much-needed funding for SUP, and items range from quirky, one-of-a-kind experiences to all-inclusive vacation packages.

According to Daphne Griffin, chief of human services for the city of Boston and executive director of Boston Centers for Youth & Families, “The Summer Urban Program does an excellent job addressing two critical issues in Boston during the summer months: summer learning loss and the need for meaningful youth employment.”

PBHA is a student-run, community-based nonprofit public service organization based on the Harvard campus.  It operates 86 programs engaging 1,400 college students in year-round public service in the areas of youth development, housing and homelessness, adult services, ESL, advocacy, and out-of-school-time programming. For more than a century PBHA programs have provided vital experiences for generations of leaders in service and activism while developing real, meaningful community partnerships. PBHA strives to create change on multiple levels in Boston and Cambridge. With professional staff support and advice, PBHA is a unique manifestation of college students’ idealism, energy, and initiative.