Longboat Island Chapel to host first-time fundraiser

The Longboat Island Chapel is gearing up to take on a new endeavor.

For the first time, the chapel is hosting a fundraiser benefiting Feeding Empty Little Tummies, a nonprofit organization based in Bradenton that serves schools by providing meals to homeless students through giving them backpacks of food for the weekend.

F.E.L.T. is one of more than 20 local charities the chapel aids throughout the year.

“Kids can’t learn if they haven’t eaten,” Becky Jones, the event chairwoman, said.

Leslie Rife, an outreach committee member, said the chapel donates to F.E.L.T. several times a year.

“We just felt that this was time-sensitive as far as we had more people here, not just as tourists, but homeless …” she said of why the chapel chose to host the fundraiser.

The fundraising event, called “A Charity Affair,” will be held from 5 to 7:30 p.m. on Friday, April 5, at the chapel.

The event is more than food and drink, though. The affair will take a silly side with multiple games, so participants can party with a purpose. Each time a participant wins a game, he or she will get a string of beads. 

At the end of the night, the person with the most beads will win a special prize.

Jones said every other event the chapel has done has always included a live and silent auction, which will still take place, but the games add a new element to the event.

The games will include a cake walk, which is like musical chairs, except the winner gets a cake; pin the fin on the mermaid, an undersea version of pin the tail on the donkey; beat the clock, which will entail a couple passing an apple under their chins from one to the other; fill a square, fill a tummy, where attendees can put their name in a square and a winner will be drawn during the event; and backpack tennis toss, a different take on ring toss.

In addition, there are various raffles, such as “Scotch for a Watch” and “Wine for a Watch” where people can put $20 in a bag and have a chance at winning a watch; a mystery bag with an item from Saks Fifth Avenue inside; $1,000 in briefcase, where three winners will be given a code, and the winning code wins the $1,000; Handbag for Hope, which includes a Coach handbag; and Gems for Jewelry and Gold for Good, which will raffle off jewelry items.

The live auction will include items such as a New York Yankees backpack filled with Yankees memorabilia, a gold necklace with diamonds, an Ancestry DNA kit and a 12-piece Italian dinner set.

Tickets for the event are $40 and include food and drink. Games will be $5 each and the raffles are $20 each. For more information, call the chapel at 383-6491 or Jones at 782-8893.