Go To Lunch With Santino Fontana

From the fine print:
"Winner will select location and provide lunch for him/herself, his/her guest and Mr. Fontana."

Don't these charity auctions usually include the meal, or is it typical for the winner to have to buy the meal for themselves and the guest star?

I think it's fairly common for the charity itself to pay for the lunch, either from a donation of goods by the restaurant or out of the winning bid.

The charity seems to have priced most of the lots at a $1500 value. I think they're trying to make it sound better by giving a high value, but that could backfire. The only part of the winning bid that is tax deductible is the part above the value (that part, as far as the IRS is concerned, is the part that's a charitable donation). Many charities try to minimize the value. For example, Broadway Cares prices all of its walk-ons as $0. (The walk-on packages often include tickets for additional guests, which are priced accordingly.)

---

Apparently you don't have to die - you just have to place a bid, since there are no bids currently.

I opted instead to bid for dinner with Bobby Cannavale and Jeremy Shamos. Figured the two of them would make for a fun night of conversation, but the price quickly exceeded my max.