Auction items such as this holiday wreath are available to bid on beginning November 15. Photo provided

By Ann Marie Mershon - Boreal Community Media - November 13, 2025

It’s a WIN-WIN this month for your holiday gift list as well as for families, children, and innovative education in Cook County. The Women’s Initiative for Service and Education (WISE) is holding its sixth annual online auction this month to fund donations to local nonprofits that support families and children, generous scholarships for graduating seniors and adults, and thousands in classroom grants for Cook County teachers.

Hundreds of items are yours for the taking, from blankets to winter coats, from gourmet meals to delicious pies, from jewelry to gift cards for scores of businesses. The auction will be held between November 15th and the 23rd, with items available for pick up (or mailing) the following week.

WISE emerged from the ashes of the Lioness Club in 2019, after the Lions Clubs International absorbed Lioness members into their own ranks. The local Lioness Club’s 50+ members voted almost unanimously to “go rogue,” establishing a new nonprofit service organization, WISE, which welcomes men into their ranks.

In the five years since its inception, WISE has donated over $34,000 to local nonprofits, including the Art Colony, the Cook County Food Shelf, The Grand Marais Playhouse, Snacks & Packs, the Violence Prevention Center, WTIP, and the YMCA, among others. They’ve granted over $20,000 in scholarships to both graduating seniors and adults (through Cook County Higher Education). And finally, thanks to a shared program with the Lions Club, they’ve distributed over $40,000 in education grants to teachers in ISD 166, the Great Expectations School, Oshki Ogimaag, and Birch Grove Elementary School. 

“Teachers express overwhelming gratitude and pride knowing they took the classroom lesson to another level, thanks to this extra funding,” said Sue Nelson, classroom grants coordinator. She eagerly took on this role after retirement because she understands the need for additional classroom funding. “WISE classroom grants allowed me the opportunity to offer my students more hands-on learning. My writers got to publish a book of poetry, and my readers got to bring a novel to the dramatic stage.” Teachers can also request reimbursement for expenses they’ve covered out of their own pockets, which is common among teachers.

Thanks to the continued support of both WISE and the Lions Club, classroom grants have funded graphic calculators, lumber for industrial education, phonics building games, Finch Robots for coding practice, period costumes for historical simulations, ball chairs for antsy students, and scores of other projects and materials.

WISE has organized a fundraising meal to launch Fisherman’s Picnic, an event which morphed from a social gathering to a Buffet-in-a-Box meal because of the pandemic. The future of this event is uncertain, but the online auction will continue to fund the WISE mission to support youth, families, and education in Cook County.

Go to WISE AUCTION 2025 to see the tempting variety of items in the auction (which will increase each day), then make your bids between November 15th and the 23rd. Items will be distributed the following week. If you’d like to donate something for the auction, contact Ann Marie Mershon, [email protected] or 218-387-2245.

This is a WIN-WIN event, your opportunity to support youth and families in Cook County.