The Camp Looking Glass annual benefit dinner is a week away for anyone looking to have a good time while supporting a good cause.
The annual event since 2014 has been organized each year by the Camp Looking Glass Delta Friends Group, which is a group of local residents who wanted to support Camp Looking Glass and found a fun way to do so.
After holding the benefit at the Greenville Yacht Club the first five years, Abner said organizers this year decided to hold the benefit at the Washington County Convention Center in order to accommodate more guests.
The event is set to start at 3 p.m. Sept. 1 at the convention center, 1040 S. Raceway Road.
Wristband tickets cost $30 each and children ages 12 and under are free.
Although tickets will be available to purchase at the door, Abner said organizers are asking folks to purchase them ahead of time so they will have a better idea of how much food to prepare. Any large groups arriving together should also let organizers know ahead of the event so they can prepare tables accordingly for them to sit together.
From 3-6 p.m., there will be a silent auction of various donated items and a dessert sale of dishes made by CLG campers and their families.
The meal, which will be a buffet-style catfish dinner with all the trimmings, will be served from 5:30-6:30 p.m.
Throughout the evening, live music will be performed by Cut-N-Loose.
Starting at 6:30 p.m., there will be a live auction of various donated items from local residents and businesses.
To purchase tickets, folks can call Mike Skelton at 662-347-8018 and Donna Pettiet at 662-820-3792.
All proceeds from the event will go directly to Camp Looking Glass, which is a non-profit organization that, since 2004, has hosted an annual summer camp for children and adults with a wide range of disabilities, including Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, Autism, hearing impairments and other physical or cognitive disabilities. CLG also hosts several other fun events throughout the year, including monthly art days, which is all offered to campers at no cost.
Assistant CLG camp director Natasha Abner said enough money has been raised at the previous events that made it possible for CLG to build their second cabin and several other needed projects, which has been named in honor of the event organizers.
“The second cabin we built is actually a cabin in honor of the folks who have helped organize this event because it was completely funded by this annual benefit,” Abner said.
In the first year, the event raised $9,000 and nearly doubled to about $20,000 its second year. The event has continued to grow and raise more funds each year, reaching about $50,000 in 2018.
“These funds have been pivotal to helping us build our facility and we would not be where we are today without this benefit and the organizers and community supporters who make it happen. … We are just blown away and immensely grateful,” Abner said.
With several project ideas in mind, including their upcoming Electric Forest Build Day, Abner said CLG is also making plans to install several accessible swings that campers in wheelchairs can sit in and one swing a wheelchair can roll onto.
