The University of Arkansas at Little Rock Staff Senate will host its annual Fall Open House on Tuesday, Nov. 15, to raise money and collect donations during the holiday season for UALR families in need. 

The event is scheduled to run from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Donaghey Student Center Upper Concourse. The open house kicks off Staff Senate’s annual Helping Hands Project.  

Donations from the open house will be used to put together holiday meal baskets for UALR applicants who would otherwise not be able to provide a traditional holiday dinner for their families.

The open house will offer a reception for UALR employees to network, win door prizes, and participate in a teacup auction. Participants purchase auction tickets and then allocate them to prize drawings by placing a ticket in a teacup in front of the prize. There is no limit to the number of tickets that can be placed in a prize’s teacup. The auction items can be viewed in an online gallery.

Auction tickets $5 for five tickets. Participants also can receive one free auction ticket, up to a maximum of five, for every two items donated from the list of items needed to create the holiday meal baskets.

Items needed include stuffing mix, cornbread mix, cream of chicken soup, cream of mushroom soup, chicken broth, macaroni and cheese, green beans, green peas, black eyed peas, corn, rice, canned potatoes, canned yams, cranberry sauce, cake mix and frosting, Kool-Aid, and nonperishable juices.

To purchase auction tickets or to donate items for the teacup auction or a door prize, contact Fall Open House Committee Chair Mark Pellegrini at 501.569.3354 or mspellegrini@ualr.edu or Valarie Abrams at 501.569.3252 or vaabrams@ualr.edu.