Cathryn Miller is a regional DJ who works weddings, parties, graduations, etc. But since the pandemic, Miller has been out of work.
Originally from Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, Miller became a United States citizen in 2018. Her husband is a retired Marine who now works for Lockheed Martin on the Marine Corps air Station.
Deeply concerned about those losing jobs, she tried to come up with a way to help others who are out of work.
“I just could not sit by and do nothing and watch these people lose everything. I have been in the food, beverage, and entertainment industry for most of my life, and I understand how hard it is for these people right now; I wanted to help them,” Miller said. “I also wanted a way to get everybody involved and to show them that the community cares about the situation they are in right now,” she added.
Miller owns a DJ company, and obviously because of the pandemic, she found herself out of work for the next couple of months.
“My husband is still working and has a good job, so we are one of the lucky ones. I had been racking my brain for three or four days to come up with an idea to help the very people in my industry who are getting hit the hardest right now. So, I came up with this idea on Sunday morning March 22, and with the support of a lot of businesses and friends, I created a Facebook group for raising money through auctions to aid restaurant servers, bar tenders and others in the entertainment field. Considering I’m unemployed for the next couple of months thanks to the shut down, I most definitely have the time to do this,” quipped Miller.
After her initial opening of the Facebook page, the group grew from 30 people to nearly 1,100 in three days.
The components of her plan are really simple, and go like this:
Anyone can join Lowcountry Auctions on Facebook. The idea of this group is to list items for auction. By cleaning out a closet, garage or house, unwanted new or gently used items can be donated for a great cause. Businesses can offer a gift certificates or other items to help.
Each item will have the name of the individual worker/entertainer at the top. People are invited to bid on the items. Each auction lasts 3-7 days, and at the end of the auction, the winning bidder will send the amount directly to the worker/entertainer via PayPal/Venmo or cash app. It is up to the person donating the item and the winning bidder to arrange pickup of the auction item that was won.
Miller has people who have donated and been nominated from Bluffton, Beaufort, Saint Helena, Walterboro and St. George. “I have dj’d at Paradise in Walterboro and Barrelhouse Grill for many years, and that area is very close to my heart,” said Miller. “So I wanted to include those towns, too.”