In an effort to raise funds so that the Society can fulfill its mission of promoting the advancement of the science and technology of lyophilization/freeze-drying, the Board of Directors (BoD) on August 8, 2003 has recommended the use of an auction as a means of fund raising.
The items to be auctioned will be donated by members of the Society. Examples of those items that can be donated by members shall include but not be limited to the following:
Books (technical, complete volumes of an Author, rare)* - attendance to a course, conference or seminar - instruments - equipment.
Flowers - food, sample of a company's products (herbs, vitamins, tea, coffee, soups, and fruits), taxidermy items (animals, birds, fish and reptiles).
Paintings, wood carving, metal and stone sculptures, hand-crafted items (jewelry like bracelets, rings, combs and necklaces), wearing apparel, rugs and various sorts of figurines, baskets, decorations and musical instruments.
Alcoholic beverages (bourbons (Kentucky), wines (California, Chile, French and Spanish), cigars (Cuban and Turkish), music (CD), processed food products (cheese, meats) woolen goods (UK and Iceland) and coffee (Colombia).
Translating documents (Chinese or Japanese to western languages or western languages to Chinese or Japanese - number of words ), technical consulting time in hours or days, post cards (will send a post card to an address with special message - send a friend a personal post card from Beijing, China or Cairo, Egypt)
* Items in parentheses are used for illustration purposes only.
In order to donate you must be a member of the Society. Members may donate products or services of a company (the name of the manufacturer can be mentioned). All donated items must be clearly described and a clear untouched photo must accompany the donation. In order to donate an item just click on Donation and complete the form.
Bidding:
Only Society members in good standing may bid on an item or service. To join the Society just click on Membership and complete the simple form. All bids will be made in terms of US dollars. The successful bidder will pay the Society directly the amount of the winning bid and pay for any shipping cost, postage and custom fees. Since it would be difficult for members of developing counties to directly compete with those living in industrial countries, any bid coming from a member in a developing country will be multiplied by a factor of three, e.g., a bid of $1.00 by a member residing in a developing country will be counted as a bid of $3.00 up to the bid price equal to 80% of the assigned value of the item. If the bidder from the developing country is successful then they would only pay the amount of their actual bid. For bids greater than 80% of the value of the item, the multiplication factor for the developing countries is no longer applicable and bidders from developing countries must now compete directly with those from industrial countries. Bids will be made in whole dollars thus a bid of $25.01 would not be accepted. Bidding on an item is complete when no further bid has been received after 10 business days. All bids will be certified by the Society's Auditor OFERO CAPARINO . Please note that the assigned value of the donation can be set by either the donor or the Society. (Bidding will commence on April 1, 2009.)
Distribution of the funds obtained from the donations
A running account of the funds raised by donations will be kept on this web site. Of the total funds received, 50% will be designated for scholarships and grants to educational institutions, 30% will be used to invite conference speakers and 20% set aside to cover operating expenses of the Society.
To examine the current list of items being offered just click on AUCTION or to donate an item DONATION.