Santa's Helping Hands 2025 Benefit Auction Raises $90K for Edmonson Families

Mark Wardlow, co-founder of SHH, speaks to the crowd at the 2025 benefit auction at ECHS.

Darren Doyle, story: Peytin Manor, photos:
Another record year was celebrated as the folks at Santa's Helping Hands prepare for another holiday season of giving back to the Edmonson County Community after the 21st annual SHH benefit auction, which was held at ECHS on Saturday, November 1st.

According to SHH co-founder Mark Wardlow, the crowd was one of the largest in recent years, which was accompanied by great weather and a positive atmosphere.

A staggering $90,000 was raised in only a span of about 4 hours.

"Here we live in a relatively poor county with no stoplight, but in just a few hours, people come together and make a difference like this," he said. "To be perfectly honest, with the government shutdown and the uncertainty within our country right now we didn't know what to expect, but as usual, our people turned out to support this local Edmonson County-only charity. Over the past several years this charity has become a year-round charity not just during the holidays."

What started as a few Edmonson County friends getting together to ensure that some local needy families were able to have a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, has now exploded into arguably the most efficient and effective way of local people taking care of each other. The volunteer board members use their own fuel, buy their own supplies, and no one in the organization has ever taken any pay, according to Wardlow. 

The charity has always stated that 100% of all gifts distributed by SHH stay in Edmonson County. 

The crowd builds before the start of the 2025 SHH benefit auction.

Items at the 2025 SHH benefit auction.

2025 SHH benefit auction.

L-R: Barry Rich, Greg Nugent, and Tommy Houchin prepare to bid on auction items.

Items at the 2025 SHH benefit auction.

Items at the 2025 SHH benefit auction.

Wardlow also had the routine long list of folks to thank for another successful year.

"As usual, Ricky Keith, Jake Keith, and Hunter Ashley did a great job keeping the auction going smoothly while making sure everyone was having fun at the same time. Jeff Rich served some great food prepared by himself and Eric Decker, and we can't say enough good about our local Homemakers. There were two large tables full of the best cakes, pies, cupcakes, and fried pies you could ask for, so we'd like to thank them as well," Wardlow said.

"We would also like to thank all the local businesses for their monetary or items donated for the auction. This was one of our best years ever and its doesn't happen without the numerous volunteers behind the scenes. Between the loading, unloading, setting up, collecting money, and cleanup, there are lots of volunteers who I won't mention in fear of leaving someone out, but they know who they are. We would also like to extend a huge thank you to ECHS Principal Jonathan Williams and Assistant Principal Nikki Culbreth for the use of the gym. This event has grown so much that I'm not sure we could even have it without them."

While the holiday season is SHH's main focus, the charity is now a year-round organization that helps with victims of house fires, emergency illnesses, long hospital stays, and other emergencies that affect local children and families. However, the charity does their due diligence to ensure the requested needs are legitimate and they do their best to see their resources are properly and responsibly used. 

"We will be taking request for service over the next few weeks and we'd like to remind everyone that this is for those that need assistance, not necessarily want assistance,' Wardlow added. "We prefer families are referred by teachers, bus drivers, custodians, and administrators; people that see these kids every day. You can turn in letters to FRC or YSC at any Edmonson County School, Community Action, Lifeskills, and HeadStart."

He also said that the next event for the charity is the annual shopping day, set for Sunday, November 30th, starting at 3:00PM at the Walmart on Morgantown Road in Bowling Green. They are requesting as many volunteers as possible to shop for this year's kid group.