Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, April 11, 1991                   TAG: 9104110296
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: KIM SUNDERLAND/ NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                LENGTH: Short

FREE CLINIC EARNS A RECORD $14,000 FROM ART AUCTION

"It's higher than it's ever been," said Executive Director Rebecca Noftsinger. Last year's auction brought in about $10,000.

"We really did well. The crowd was good, the art was good and the money was good," she said.

Saturday's auction at the Blacksburg Holiday Inn offered about 150 pieces of art by some 80 artists. About 300 bidders attended the ninth annual event.

Although the gross take was high, Noftsinger said the net amount will be just over $10,000 due to requests by some of the participating artists for tax breaks.

For the first time, the clinic gave the artists the option of giving 50 percent of the proceeds from their sales back to the clinic. Previously, artists had donated their items for the auction and could deduct only materials from their taxes.

Noftsinger said a few artists did take that option, but most donated all of their proceeds to the clinic, which has a 1991 operating budget of about $100,000, raised to around $500,000 by in-kind services from doctors and others.

The budget could increase more over the next few months. Noftsinger said the clinic already has seen a third more patients this year than last year.

"We've been really busy," she said. "There's an increased need because there are more people without insurance."

Increased publicity also has brought in more patients, she said.