With the proceeds benefitting the senior class gift and the student-run pro-life group Shield of Roses, each spring, faculty and staff members put up their home-cooked meals to be auctioned off to the highest bidding group of students, normally generating over $1000 for charity each year.
The auction dinners have been a staple at Christendom for years, with various faculty and staff, including college president Dr. Timothy O’Donnell, vice president for enrollment Tom McFadden, and philosophy professor Michael Brown, personally preparing menus, meals, and opening their homes to students for the dinners. Students eagerly bid on them, competing against each other, and raising money for a good cause, for the chance to experience the delicious feasts and spend time with their teachers and mentors.
The senior class gift is used each year to improve some element of campus life, giving the senior class the opportunity to give back to Christendom before leaving the school. In past years, the senior class gift has been used to construct the state-of-the-art scoreboard that now rests on Crusader Field, along with purchasing the two angel statues that rest next to the altar in Christ the King Chapel.
The other half of the money raised helps Shield of Roses in their pro-life efforts each year, which includes traveling to Silver Spring, Md., every Saturday to pray in front of a Planned Parenthood abortion and offer counseling to those considering having an abortion.