Our partners in health: Feed Your Pig, Buckeye auctioneers

Janell Jones and Janna Johnson

When college student Janna Johnson started her blog Feed Your Pig as a freshman in February 2009, she could not have imagined the impact her site would have just one year later. With help from colleagues, she has transformed what had been a blog about frugal college living into a tremendous effort aimed at raising money and awareness for Partners In Health’s STAND WITH HAITI campaign.

“After hearing about the earthquake, I thought it would be great if we could do something to help Partners In Health (PIH),” says Johnson. Her friend Janell Jones and former instructor Lauren Haas agreed.

Their solution: the Buckeyes for Haiti Solace Auction (BHSA).

Johnson and Jones, friends and fellow social work majors at The Ohio State University (OSU), read Tracy Kidder’s Mountains Beyond Mountains in Haas’s Social Work Survey course. Both students were deeply moved by Kidder’s book and have had Haiti in their minds ever since. The January 12 earthquake compelled them into action.

“[First,] I contacted several hundred companies…and asked them to offer products, services, and gift certificates,” says Johnson. The response was overwhelming.

Auction gifts include: multiple gift certificates from Crocs, Inc., Ecostore USA, Rubbermaid, and SKOY. The featured gift is a Columbus Clippers Gift Package. The minor league baseball team’s donated package includes a Columbus Clippers baseball, baseball cap, and t-shirt, in addition to a $10 Clippers gift certificate and a “Family Pass” to any 2010 Clippers home game.

Next, Johnson revamped Feed Your Pig, turning it into an online auction site. “I have halted my typical blog fare in order to use the blog for the auction,” says Johnson.

Now, the women facilitate as donors bid on various items.

Beyond the auction, Johnson, Jones, and Haas are organizing a campus-wide student organization – Buckeyes for Haiti Solace. The university-sponsored organization will educate students about Haiti and raise funds for PIH throughout the academic year.

The auction began on February 15 and will run through 12 p.m. EST March 15.