Breen-Phillips Hall will host its 22nd annual Meal Auction today and give students an opportunity to bid on meals with campus celebrities such as Notre Dame football coach Charlie Weis, Irish quarterback Brady Quinn and an all-male a cappella group, The Undertones.
Anthropology professor James McKenna, Director of Alumni Relations Chuck Lennon, Irish defensive back Ambrose Wooden and the Notre Dame leprechaun mascots are other familiar names associated with the auction.
Weis contributed to the auction by offering a tour of the football locker room and a photo opportunity.
"[The meals] are a fun thing to do with friends - go eat with a big campus name, and it's an easy way to make a donation," said sophomore Allison Nowotarski, commissioner of the Meal Auction.
Nowotarski said in addition to the twenty meals featured in the main auction, BP also will host a silent auction with several gift certificates to local restaurants and gift baskets made by different sections of the dorm.
Funds from this year's auction will be given to Hannah & Friends, the non-profit foundation begun by Maura and Charlie Weis dedicated to improving the quality of life for young people affected by autism and other global delays. In past years, funds raised by the Meal Auction were donated to the American Diabetes Association.
"With the success of the football season, I wanted to [use] an organization close to the Notre Dame community that everybody was familiar with and had a connection to," Nowotarski said.
Students can purchase Hannah & Friends bracelets in LaFortune during the auction to enter their names into a drawing to win a football signed by Brady Quinn.
In 2005, BP brought in approximately $5,800, but this year organizers hope to raise that number to least $6,000.
"As a freshman last year, I went a little crazy and bought a whole bunch of groups," Nowotarski said. "It's fun to be able to say that you were able to meet the names that were big at Notre Dame when you were there."
The meal that generated the highest bids in past auctions was the dinner with Father Mark Poorman, which also includes tours of the President's office, the Basilica, and last year, a tour of Notre Dame's underground tunnels.
The year's Meal Auction will take place today from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Burger King area of LaFortune.
