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Events, Fundraisers and News

Senator David Baria Contributes to Hope Haven Children’s Services

The Second Annual David Baria Classic was recently held at The Bridges Golf Course at Hollywood Casino.  This year’s event saw an increase in the number of participants who enjoyed the afternoon on the Arnold Palmer designed course.  Senator Baria selected Hope Haven as the charity beneficiary once again this year and was able to increase the contribution made to them over last year.

“Last year the Senator donated $1,500 to us.” Stated Hope Haven Director Terry Latham. “This year we were very surprised and gratified when he presented us with a check for $4,000!”  The donation will be used for Hope Haven’s new college scholarship fund designed to help children leaving foster care obtain an education.

In delivering the check to Mr. Latham, Senator Baria said “Hope Haven does a wonderful job supporting area children in need with very limited resources.  I am happy to be able to make this contribution to help ensure that children have the means to make the transition from foster care to becoming productive members of society.”

The David Baria Golf Classic is an annual event and is open to the public.  The charity benefitting from tournament proceeds is chosen by Senator Baria.


2nd ANNUAL CHILDREN'S HEALTH FAIR

Our 2nd Annual Back to School Children's Health Fair was a great success with almost twice as many children as last year, approximately 125 children attending! 

I would like to thank all the participants for their assistance... American Red Cross, Catholic Social Services, Dr. Michael Keel Jr. (Dental Screenings), Hancock Medical Center, Gulf Coast Health Educators (Measured BMI's), Lion's Club (Vision Screenings), RSVP, Waveland Fire Department and to the American Legion Post 77 for providing the space. Thank you for taking your time to assist the children in Hancock County ! We would also like to thank BP Petroleum for their donation of bags and funds used for school supplies to hand out to attendees! We look forward to hosting this event again next year.

THIRD ANNUAL LONGBEACHFEST, 7 AUGUST 2010  The festival will include fun and games and food and booths and even a poker run. Last year the organizers raised over $1,000 for the Pink Hearts Fund and this year they have chosen Hope Haven as the charity.  We will post more on this event as it becomes available. Visit longbeachfest.com to check out the action and to sign up for the poker run.

Christmas City

COME SUPPORT HOPE HAVEN AT CHRISTMAS CITY, NOV. 13-14 AT THE MS COAST COLISEUM - We will be selling baskets, turtle boxes and placemats!

OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST:  Songs of Hope CD is almost finished….we still need one or two more donations of music/voice and then we will begin production of the CD with around 12 to 14 tracks on.  We will offer these special songs by these special artist for a $10 donation to Hope Haven.

Cause in Effect is a brand new concept being developed by Colleen Read who is the owner of “Da Beach House” that unfortunately succumbed to hurricane Katrina. Her concept is to do a for sale type publication that would be distributed free. People would list items for sale and would agree in return to donate 10% of the sale price to one of the charities listed in the publication.  Hope Haven will be one of those charities.  Visit the link for more info:

MARGE STEPS UP TO THE PLATE FOR HOPE HAVEN ONCE AGAIN

MARGE...(Mississippi Association of Recreational Gamblers) has once again chosen Hope Haven to be their charity of choice and will stage the Hope Haven Charity Poker Tournament at the beautiful Beau Rivage Casino and Resort in Biloxi.  Check on the link belowfor more information!!!  We are also very grateful to PokerStars.com who has pledged $4,000 to Hope Haven as part of their sponsorship to this charity event.
3RD ANNUAL CRAWFISH COOK-OFF SATURDAY, APRIL 10, 2010

Thank You!

Nadine Brown, owner of C&R's Bar and Grill presents a check to Greg Kothmann, Hope Haven Treasurer from the 3rd Annual Crawfish Cookoff
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C& R’s 3rd Annual Crawfish Cookoff draws a huge crowd and brings in record amount of donations for Hope Haven.  The sun was shining, the breeze was blowing and the crawfish were cooking in C&R’s backyard Saturday for this popular event.  The crowd started building early and by the time the leadoff band took the stage…it became apparent that this event was going to be a winner for the children and families who depend upon our services.

The crowd kept coming all afternoon and at one point we ran out of crawfish, plates, soft drinks and paper towels but we quickly replenished all and by six o’clock a record amount of tasty crawfish had been boiled and eaten by folks who were ready to shake off the long cold winter we have had. 

What makes this event special is the cooking teams…of course, the bands who come and play a no charge for the cause and the many volunteers who worked so hard during the day to keep the supplies available, the trash picked up, tables clean and who manned the various booths.  This year we had a dunking booth and a crawfish race booth which really appealed to the kids….(I placed a bet myself…number 5 was not a lucky number by the way.) 

The final figures are not in but the gross was just over $20,000!!! Unfortunately, the cost of crawfish was 50% more than last year but in spite of the increased cost I fully expect that the donation amount will equal or maybe even exceed last years record of $15,000!

The cooking team winners were:  
1st Place      Sawdoff’s in the Kiln                                                                   
2nd Place     Coast Electric    
3rd Place  Dugge Fricke  
The People’s Choice Award and Most Unique Item went to Catmando’s Crew.
Congratulations to all teams…you are all winners in our book.

An event such as this is labor intensive. There are many to thank and here are some…with more thanks to follow;  Nadine Brown of course…what a wonderful person she is, all the volunteers, HH Board members, the Bands Last chance, Austin Kelly & The Salt Bayou Band & Legends, Roger Caplinger for being our auctioneer once again,  Kirk Necaise owner of Space Walks of Bay St. Louis, a big big thank you to REX Distributing. The young ladies who volunteered to be dunked…including THE BUD GIRLS and…all of you who came to eat and support us.  I would also like to say thank you to a special young lady who volunteered who must remain nameless. After the event she sat with me and told me that she was a volunteer because her and her four brothers and sisters had stayed at Hope Haven…ten years ago for about five months.  Folks…their family has now reunited but that is what this is all about…the children.




Hope Haven selected to distribute Payless Give Shoes 4 Kids Program

Hope Haven recently received 50 $15.00 gift vouchers to distribute to needy children under the Payless shoes 4 kids program.  This program is nationwide and Payless is contributing over a million dollars to help need children get new shoes for Christmas.  As of this writing, we have distributed the gift certificates to the needy children in our community, with many of the vouchers going to local children who have been abused and neglected and who are in care. 

Cajun Country Music Fest raises $3,000 for Hope Haven coffers!

Tim Bradley and Jeff Salters are a couple of "good ole boys".  They, like many in this area enjoy country music. The especially like country music with a little cajun twang thrown in.  Add some high stepping girs, hot classic cars, hotter weather and cold cold beer and folks you have got yourself the Cajun Country Music Festival!  

And this years festival raised $3,000 to help our shelter stay open.   We so appreciate those boys and all of their family and friends who show up and put in days of hot hard work setting everything up for the event and then tearing everything down after it's all over. 

We also appreciate the Hancock County Board of Supervisors who donated the Equestrine Arena for our use and Hancock County Sherrifs Department who provided us with security.   And....we sure do apppreciate the varios bands who came and played their hearts out.  Finally...we appreciate everyone who attended.  This year was a tough year for most of us...the numbers were down....but folks...things WILL get better in 2010...and we expect to see all of you out there romping and stomping!

PAWS ON PARADE - BAY ST. LOUIS
Hope Haven participated in this years annual Paws On Parade held in Bay St. Louis. We took about 200 stuffed cats and dogs that had been donated to us and offered them as "rescue pets" to attendees...for a donation. We raised about 200 dollars and split the money between Hope Haven and the Friends of The Animal Shelter. We took our own dog...Lucy along. She didn't win anything but she took a nice nap in the pen of stuffed animals....surprising many when they went to select a stuffed one.

M.A.R.G.E. IS TRULY A FRIEND TO HOPE HAVEN!

Hope Haven has received support for our mission from many different individuals and organizations.  We are fortunate to receive annual support from a great bunch of folks who love to play poker for fun.  The event is called   MARGE and it stands for Mississippi Annual Recreational Gambling Excursion.

One of the organizers, Mark Hughes, contacted us prior to hurricane Katrina and informed us that they wanted to do something special for children and had found us on the web.  They raised several thousands of dollars from their first tournament and several of the players came to the home, met several of the children and we have been friends since that time.  Mark added a new dimension to the equation when he arranged for Pokerstars.com   the premier online recreational gambling site in the world, to send a donation in support of us as well.   This year we are pleased to announce that Pokerstars.com has donated $4.000 to Hope Haven.  

What can you say about such good things and such good people.   Thank you isn't enough...but it will have to suffice.....THANK YOU MARK, THANK YOU MARGE PARTICIPANTS AND THANK YOU POKERSTARS.COM - Terry Latham Director

UPDATE! 

MARGE…COMES THROUGH FOR THE KIDS.   Every year a group of “recreational poker players meet here on the coast to share their love of poker.  They hold a “tournament” and this year it was held at the Beau Rivage in Biloxi.  Hope Haven has been fortunate to be the recipient of this tournament and a donation from PokerStars.Com the online destination for poker players for many years now.  In addition to the $3,000 donation from PokerStars.com noted above, we recently received a check for $765.00 which represented the local player’s donations to our Home.  We thank each and every member of Marge, they are a great bunch of people and we appreciate them so much….

Click for more info

2nd ANNUAL WALK FOR HOPE A SUCCESS

The sun was shining, the southern breeze was blowing and the people were smiling as over 250 walkers and runners made their way onto the beautiful Bay St. Louis Bridge.   Local dignataries and Hope Haven Board members threw a wreath into the Bay in memory of Leo Seal Jr. who was a long time supporter of Hope Haven.  

Last years walk raised $15,000 for Hope Haven.  The walk was timed for the grand opening of the Bay St. Louis Bridge which brought out a large crowd.  This year,  The walk was in connection with Mississippi In Motion which is a new program that promotes a healthy lifestyle for adults and children. 

This years walk saw over 250 participants and raised over $5,000.  Although the funds raised were significantly lower that the first year...the walk will continue to be an annual event...it is a great kick off for spring and everyone enjoys it.  Unfortunately....the economy was a hugh factor this year....and many people just don't have the extra funds available...and many are worried about what the future will bring.   We understand that and we appreciate every one who did contribute and who made the walk for the children.  We will walk again...and again...and again...because the kids need us.

 
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