For over 30 years the Norman Women’s Resource Center has been helping women who are victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.

This year, the agency lost 46 percent of its funding, has had to undergo cut-backs and layoffs and may have to close if more money isn’t found, according to a press release.

That fact makes the charity auction tonight vital to its continuation, an organizer said.

The Organization for the Advancement of Women in Law will host its 21st annual charity auction at 6 p.m. at Coach’s Brewhouse, 110 W. Main St.

“It’s an absolutely vital agency providing critical resources to women and children in need,” auction chairwoman Krystina Hollarn said. “It’s very important for us to support an agency providing that, especially when they’re going through a tough time.”

The agency provides a number of services to the community through the Norman Shelter for Battered Women, a 24-hour crisis line, a rape response team, counseling services and a court advocacy program, according to its Web site.

The OU student organization is a longtime supporter of the agency. Last year’s auction raised over $10,000 and organizers hope to increase that amount this year, Hollarn said.

“We certainly feel more urgency knowing that our efforts might make the difference between the Women’s Resource Center surviving or not surviving,” said Mary Sue Backus, Organization for the Advancement of Women in Law advisor.

Items being sold at the auction were donated by Norman and Oklahoma City individuals and have been packaged into theme packages, Backus said.

“We had an amazing array of donations last year including dinners and lunches, unusual theme parties, bowling outings, poker nights, roller skating, baseball tickets, theater tickets, golf and home-cooked meals,” Backus stated in a press release.

Admission is $5 and all of the money raised will benefit the Women’s Resource Center, according to Hollarn.