Jewish Pavilion's 'Gems and Jeans Gala' is an online auction this year

"We are doing our annual gala auction online this year because it's the best choice we have. We're just not going to lose sight of helping our

seniors, no matter what," said Shirley Schoenberg, co-chairwoman of this year's "Ungala" event sponsored by the Jewish Pavilion. The highly anticipated annual fall fundraiser has moved online this year - the first time in the event's 13-year history.

Participants won't have to leave the comfort of their living room to win the auction's most popular gifts: paid vacations for two (complete with safe-distancing guidelines), a 30-bottle deluxe wine-chiller, and two fresh challahs, monthly for a year, prepared by Ben's Bakery.

In addition to these popular gifts, many of the Jewish Pavilion's skilled cooks, bakers and artist members have offered to auction off prepared meals, baked goods, and art or homemade items. Among the dozens of items: Russian dinner for six, prepared by book author and self-help guru Myrna Ossin; A dozen "Your Choice" cookies every month for a year, baked by Pavilion Friends Board member Susan Livingstone; A complete Shabbat dinner for six, prepared by the Jewish Pavilion's executive director, Nancy Ludin.

Other auction items include various professional services: autographed sports items, handmade clothing and collectibles. Items can be viewed at http://www.auctria.com/auction/JPungala.

Everyone who is interested will be able to bid in this online auction, noted auctioneer and consultant Janelle Taylor. "We are going to have a help-line manned with a person for a number of hours each day during the auction," Taylor explained. "Anyone having a problem posting their bid, or even having their computer crash, can call us and we'll place the bid for you."

More sophisticated bidding aspects, such as those that are now commonplace on eBay, will also be featured. One example is the "auto-extend" function, which keeps an auction running at its end time for at least two minutes without any bid being placed. This allows a greater number of people to bid more fairly on a popular item at its ending time.

One other advantage of the "Ungala" online auction is its ability to get new people involved who might otherwise not have attended the in-person gala. Although the in-person event has attracted more than 250 people each fall, "a good portion of our audience tends to be the same each year. Now, some new people might become more aware of the Jewish Pavilion and the awesome work we do in improving the lives of older adults living in senior-care communities," explained Susie Stone, co-chairwoman of the Ungala.

The Jewish Pavilion Ungala runs from Oct. 18, 7 a.m. until Oct. 23, at 3 p.m. Items can be bid on at charityauction.bid/JPungala.