The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) announced the silent auction held at the 2018 ELFA Equipment Management Conference raised $4,340 for charity. The funds will be donated to the Guardian Ad Litem Foundation of Tampa Bay, an organization that provides advocacy and support for abused, abandoned and neglected children in Pinellas and Pasco Counties of Florida.

The charitable silent auction was held during the closing reception of the Equipment Management Conference, which drew more than 300 equipment managers, appraisers and remarketers to the Vinoy Renaissance in St. Petersburg, Fla., on Feb. 25-27.

“Knowing that 100 percent of the proceeds from our silent action will support the Guardian Ad Litem Foundation of Tampa Bay, which helps so many children and families each year, is very gratifying,” said Wade Whitenburg of Ritchie Bros., a member of the ELFA Equipment Management Planning Committee who helped to organize the auction. “We sincerely thank all of the member companies that generously donated prizes to the auction, as well as the attendees who bid on the prizes.”

The auction offered a wide range of items donated by ELFA member companies, including gift cards, equipment models and a laptop computer. The companies that donated items to the auction included:

• Altec Capital
• Bee-Line Corp.
• BigIron Auctions
• Computer Wholesalers Inc. (CWI)
• Crestmark
• FleetEvaluator
• JJ Kane
• Key Equipment Finance
• Machinery Max
• Ritchie Bros. (2)
• RVI Group
• Sipi Asset Recovery
• Stallard Technologies Inc. (STI)
• Stonebriar Commercial Finance
• Taylor & Martin
• The Alta Group
• Wintrust Commercial Finance.

In addition, ELFA donated a free registration to the 2019 Equipment Management Conference, which will be held Feb. 24-26, 2019 at the Omni La Costa Resort in Carlsbad, Calif.