Loaves & Fishes Community Soup Kitchen’s annual fundraiser will have a different look this time around. From 5-7:30 p.m. Friday, May 31, the nonprofit organization will host a catfish dinner, with musical entertainment and a raffle, at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Parish Hall at 318 College St. in downtown Columbus. In a departure from the evening galas of recent years, this fundraiser format is an opportunity to vary the ministry’s outreach to the community.
“It’s really the only major fundraiser for Loaves & Fishes, which fed over 25,000 meals last year,” said committee member Fred Kinder.
An active network of volunteers from area churches, businesses and other organizations serve meals to the hungry in Lowndes County from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on multiple weekdays at 223 22nd St. N. in Columbus. The soup kitchen also frequently distributes to-go sack lunches on Fridays to help individuals through the weekend. For a ministry that relies on donations and a few small grants, community involvement is essential. Catfish dinner proceeds will help with year-round expenses including utilities and supplies.
A team from First United Methodist Church’s United Methodist Men, led by David Nelson, will cook for the May 31 event, Kinder said. Dine-in patrons will be treated to entertainment by Dawn Barham, Dixie Butler, Tyson Cunningham, Connely Dale and Edwina Williams.
A limit of 300 tickets is available. Purchase them in advance at Military Hardware, Helping Hands, First United Methodist Church and St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. Tickets will be available at the dinner, if not sold out in advance.
Plates are $15, or two for $25, and include a beverage and homemade dessert, dine-in or takeout.
“We’ll be having a raffle as well,” said co-organizer Ann Sparkman. “Raffle tickets are $1, and we’ll have five separate drawings — for a handmade quilt, four matted and signed Eugenia Talbot prints, a 32-inch Santa, a hand-knotted 24-by-36-inch Persian rug and a Mississippi Munchies Basket. You do not have to be present to win.”
A “wishing well” donation bucket for Loaves and Fishes will also be set up at the dinner.
For more information about the event or the Loaves and Fishes ministry, email [email protected].
IF YOU GO:
■ WHO: Loaves & Fishes Community Soup Kitchen
■ WHAT: Catfish dinner fundraiser (music, raffle)
■ WHEN: Friday, May 31, 5-7:30 p.m.
■ WHERE: St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Parish Hall, 318 College St., Columbus
■ TICKETS: Plates $15 (two for $25), includes beverage/dessert; dine-in/takeout. Limited tickets available; get in advance at Military Hardware, Helping Hands, First United Methodist Church, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church.
Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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