Friendship Room plans ‘Night of Hope’ fundraiser at Scaffidi’s in Steubenville
Trending
STEUBENVILLE -- Molly McGovern can't tell you exactly how many more people her ministry, the Friendship Room, is reaching today than before the COVID-19 pandemic.
She just knows it's more. A lot more.
"The increase in need has been startling," she said. "We used to put out 50 sandwiches a night in our refrigerator cooler. Now, we give out more than 200 sandwiches a night, and we go through eight cases of water a day. We probably serve between 50 and 100 meals on top of the sandwiches. We also give out groceries in our free pantry, we probably fill it between 10 and 15 times a day. Thankfully, the community helps keep it filled but, really, the need has just exponentially increased."
McGovern is as keenly aware of how the coronavirus has impacted the population she serves as she is how it's impacting her ability to raise money for the program: This year, because of the pandemic, she's had to cancel the Friendship Room's annual banquet in favor of a more relaxed, socially distanced "Night of Hope" fundraiser from 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. July 19 at Scaffidi's Restaurant and Tavern, 350 S. Hollywood Blvd.
The evening will include casino games with local celebrity dealers, a 50/50 drawing, a Chinese auction, live music and dancing outdoors, as well as food.
"This will replace our annual banquet and help us continue to be frontline and keep the blue doors open," she said. "We depend on private donations, we're not funded by larger church organizations or the government."
She said they'll be using Scaffidi's indoor seating area as well as the patio, and they'll adhere to state health guidelines which means seating will follow social distancing norms. Masks will be "strongly encouraged," she added.
"The annual banquet was our main source of income," she said. "But we're not going to be able to do that now, just for prudence--we don't want to ask 500 people to come sit inside a building, so we thought this might be a fun way to get people out after being cooped up for weeks. They can be outside if they prefer, they'll be able to do something different if they want and still participate in the fundraiser and support Friendship Room, but do it in a safe way following all of the governor's mandates."
McGovern said the money they raise will help cover expenses for the Friendship Room, their safe house for women and a safe house for men in recovery.
"Our expenses and the need down here have quadrupled," she said, ticking off a long list of necessities the fundraiser helps pay for -- like utilities, insurance and necessary items for our guests, as well as upkeep, maintenance, vehicle, as well as thermometers, sanitizers and personal protective equipment" for volunteers and guests.
"We have quadruple need and our expenses also have skyrocketed because we're trying to meet the immediate needs of people who have been laid off from work," she said. "They need more food, more help with basic humanitarian aid."
The Night of Hope, she said, "is really just a chance for people to get out and have a good time and support Friendship Room, to see people they haven't seen since they've been in quarantine, but do it at a safe distance."
Tickets are priced at $25 each. Beer and wine wristbands also will be $25. Seating is limited, so anyone interested in attending should call (740) 314-5095.