BATTLE GROUND — Community members who attend this year’s annual Scare Away Hunger dinner and auction fundraiser for the North County Community Food Bank (NCCFB) will also be the first to see the new conceptual drawing for the future food bank facility.
“We will be unveiling the new conceptual drawing of our future food bank facility, designed by Sharilyn Hidalgo, owner of H Studio Architecture and Drafting, to educate our guests on our hopes for the future and encourage them to help spread the word about our exciting plans for expansion and growth of our educational programming,” said Elizabeth Cerveny, executive director of the NCCFB.
The annual Scare Away Hunger dinner and auction, which is the food bank’s largest fundraiser each year, will be held Sat., Oct. 22, beginning at 5:30 p.m., at the Battle Ground Community Center, 912 E. Main St., Battle Ground.
New to this year’s event, actors from the Murder Mystery Company of Portland will interact with guests as part of the evening’s program to solve a murder. Guests are encouraged to come in their best 1920s “Gatsby-style” apparel to fit their roles in the drama as the night progresses. Everyone will have a chance to help solve the crime.
A number of 1920s-themed auction packages will be offered throughout the evening in the silent and oral auctions. Auction items will include a Las Vegas excursion, the Seattle Sheraton’s second annual Holiday Gingerbread Village weekend package, a trip to San Francisco complete with a tour of Alcatraz and more. Antique cars will be on display from the 1920s period from local car clubs.
This is the food bank’s major fundraiser each year, enabling the organization to not only provide emergency food supplies to those in crisis, but also offer them educational programs to assist them in breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty. Each week, the NCCFB is required to purchase between 5-8,000 pounds of food supplies to serve the growing number of individuals who are seriously impacted by poverty, homelessness, serious chronic illnesses as well as mental health issues.
Cerveny said that food drives and donations alone do not provide for the number of individuals living in poverty in Clark County communities. More than 63 percent of the NCCFB client being served each month are children and senior citizens.
Cerveny said her hope is that they are able to raise $50,000 at the Scare Away Hunger event.
“It would be spectacular if we could raise as much as the Humane Society or Share House, with the wonderful success they routinely have raising more than hundreds of thousands of dollars in a single evening,” Cerveny said. “Somehow, unfortunately, the serious need of feeding our poor, homeless, ill and innocent children doesn’t seem to rise to that level of gifting and I have to wonder to myself, why? These are our Clark County neighbors and it would be so easy for all of us to rally and truly make a difference when it comes to poverty and hunger in our own communities.”
Cerveny said the funds raised each year at the Scare Away Hunger event helps staff at the food bank expand their offerings of educational programs that target healthy eating, nutrition for life, senior security and safety in their own homes. Funds also help with the food bank’s Celebrity Chefs and Kids in the Kitchen programs.
“Giving these individuals the educational knowledge necessary to put these lifelong skills to use opens so many doors of opportunity, confidence and hope,” Cerveny said.
Those wishing to register for the upcoming Scare Away Hunger dinner and auction can contact the North County Community Food Bank at (360) 687-5007. Registration is $85 per person or $600 for a table of eight. If you are a business or corporation that would like to show your support of the food bank’s educational programs and services through a sponsorship of this event, contact Cerveny at (360) 687-5007 or via email at executive.director@nccfoodbank.org.
Auction items are still being accepted, as well as sponsorships of various levels. Those wishing to register for the Scare Away Hunger event can also do so online at NCCFB website and can also make a monetary donation of any amount. Visit the food bank’s Facebook page for additional information.
