The Rainier Foothills Wellness Foundation raised around $252,000 at its annual Holiday Fantasy auction this month, smashing the $167,000 goal organizers had previously set.

Much of the money came during the paddle raise, RFWF Executive Director Sara Stratton said Monday. That’s the part of a fundraiser where attendees simply pledge money to the cause without buying or bidding on anything. (Selling a couple of big trips to Mexico didn’t hurt either.)

“Everybody was incredibly generous,” Stratton said. “They just kept giving.”

The Holiday Fantasy auction typically raises around $150,000, Stratton said, so the foundation aimed this year to raise $167,000, or roughly 30 percent of its annual operating revenue.

Stratton said that community pride, as well as the excitement of once again holding an in-person auction, helped contribute to the amount they raised.

“People have really stepped up more than they have in the past to help take care of our own,” Stratton said. “I think that’s a big part of it. (And) the fact that we are now working in mental health, putting licensed mental health counselors in our schools, I think people are really excited about and grateful for our programs doing prevention work. … But I definitely think it’s this big community pride that we’ve developed in Enumclaw and the surrounding communities as well.”

In years past, the auction was live at the annual dinner. But the COVID-19 pandemic forced RFWF to shift gears and hold its first-ever online auction during its 2020 event.

Stratton said the nonprofit decided to continue holding the majority of the auction online in order to accommodate people who were uncomfortable meeting in-person, as well as give people not attending the dinner an opportunity to support RFWF’s programs.

The auction, as well as the corresponding dinner at the Thunder Dome Car Museum in Enumclaw on Dec. 3, raised money to support RFWF’s various community programs. That includes the Care Van, which transports local residents to their health-related, non-emergency appointments; the Neighbors Feeding Neighbors program, which delivers hot meals to Plateau seniors, fills backpacks with food for local students, and funds the weekly Full Bellies soup kitchen program; and in-school mental health counseling.