Operation St. Nick raises record $236K at annual auction

Operation St. Nick broke records at its 42nd annual auction this year, raising $236,000 thanks to high bids and $50,000 and $20,000 from anonymous donors.

The highest-selling items were the 1960 Walborg 1/4 midget race car, which sold for $6,700, tickets to the University of Illinois basketball game against Northwestern University on Sunday, Jan. 26, which sold for $5,500, a corporate membership to the Morris Country Club which sold for $3,600, and tickets to the University of Notre Dame vs. Navy Midshipmen football game on Nov.8, 2025, which sold for $3,000.

Founder Joe Schmitz said the last hour of the auction is when things were truly crazy, and he’s thankful for everyone who participated in the auction and donated money.

The previous record was $227,000, which was raised for the 40th anniversary. Schmitz said they had 14 pages worth of items that year. This year had six pages.

“To have the community come behind us like this year and support knowing, taking care of the needy families at Christmas and the veterans and back-to-school, and the other times during the year, it just sets us up,” Schmitz said. “We know we can budget and do the same things we’ve been doing even more. To have the community support behind this and the county support with call-ins, item purchases is really overwhelming to think about, a small town like Morris and a radio station on a Sunday morning, just to help its neighbors.”