Butler Bonanza Raises Nearly a Quarter of a Million Dollars
More than 325 guests gathered for the 28th annual Butler Benefit Auction on March 7, celebrating this year’s theme—Butler Bonanza. As the largest fundraiser for the Butler Community College Foundation, the event raised more than $230,000 to support student scholarships and academic opportunities.
Forrest and Tiffany Rhodes served as honorary chairs for the event. Butler alum Austin Clift (’10) emceed for the evening, and Jeremy Sundgren served as auctioneer. The event raised more than $230,000 to support the Foundation's mission to provide students with scholarships and academic opportunities.
The festivities began with a lively social hour, where guests mingled and sampled gourmet bites crafted by students from the Redler Institute of Culinary Arts. The silent auction featured more than 90 items generously donated by local businesses and friends of Butler, while the live auction energized the room with more than 20 high-interest packages, ultimately raising more than a combined $88,000.
Current Butler students representing the livestock judging team, BCTV, the Culinary Arts program, Butler Athletics, and the Fine Arts department made significant contributions to the evening’s success.
More than $70,000 was raised during the Pure Philanthropy portion of the evening, in which bidders donated directly to scholarships for students instead of bidding on a specific auction item.
The evening was made possible by the generosity of many corporate sponsors, including Presenting Sponsor HF Sinclair; Elite Sponsors—Bank of America, Premier Food Service, Gravity::Works Architecture, PEC, Simpson Construction Services, and L.J. Lechtenberg Strategic Financial Partners; and Gold Sponsors—Commerce Bank, BG Products, Vintage Bank, Forvis Mazars, and Demo Distributors.
Those interested in attending, sponsoring, or donating to next year’s auction on March 6, 2026, should contact Jennifer Green-Miracle at 316-323-6338 or jgreenmiracl@butlercc.edu.
Butler Benefit Auction Sponsors
