LaGRANGE- Twin Cedars recently kicked off its annual fundraising campaign called Behind the Mask on Jan. 5 that included a jubilant party at the Mare Sol restaurant.

Twin Cedars is a local non-profit organization that offers services and programs to help children, youths and families reach their full potential and deal with difficult situations going on in their lives.

“Behind the Mask is an annual LaGrange fundraiser for Twin Cedars and it started as a Mardi Gras party because there were not a lot of events going on in February in LaGrange, so we decided to build something around the Mardi Gras season,” said Lisa Wicker, the Senior Development Coordinator for Twin Cedars. “It has grown from a party to a month-long series of events.”

There are 15 men and women competing for the title of king and queen at the Behind the Mask Ball this year. The fifth annual fundraiser will use peer-to-peer fundraising to raise a large portion of the funds from the event each year. For four weeks each January, the public has a chance to vote for their favorite candidate and support the number of LaGrange programs associated with Twin Cedars. It will cost one dollar to submit a vote and there are no restrictions on the amount or number of times a person can vote.

Voting for King and Queen ends on Jan. 30 at noon.

This year’s Queen candidates include Jill Gay, Ashley McCoy, Kelly Cain, Libby Willingham, Denna’ Muncy, Kerri Vice, Shannon Lawson and Peyton Hanners. This year’s King candidates include Ralph Howard, Mark Hubbard, Ken Carter, Coleman Vice, Mike Duke, Kane Bradfield  and Rett Jones.

“Something else exciting is the creativity displayed by our candidates in their fundraising ideas,” says Wicker. “We have Ashley McCoy baking pies for a $25 donation to Twin Cedars, Ralph Howard donated an original Rockmore work of art from his private collection, and for a $100 donation to his campaign, you have an opportunity to win this piece. Denna’ Muncy has several events planned including a luncheon to highlight one of Twin Cedars’ programs. Shannon Lawson has a spirit night scheduled at Jim Bob’s with a portion of the proceeds donated to her campaign.”

On Feb. 4, the winners for the 2017 King and Queen will be crowned in a rooftop ceremony at the Del’avant Event Center. The reigning king and queen, Dale Jackson and Pam Herndon will be involved in this year’s event, like most past king and queen winners usually are.

“This event provides a critical portion of our funding for the LaGrange program because we are a non-profit and each year we have to raise a certain amount of money to keep our programs running,” said Wicker. “Last year, we raised $107,000 through these efforts.”

Twin Cedars works with several programs in LaGrange like Safe Families, Circle of Care, Darkness 2 Light, Troup County Prevention Coalition, Alcohol Prevention Project, Community Counseling, Therapeutic Foster Care, and Second Chance Home.

“Our focus is to raise money to support the LaGrange programs of Twin Cedars and to put the spotlight on the important work we do with youths and families,” said Wicker.

 

Shirttail- Reach James Simpson II at 706-884-7311, ext. 2155, or by email at james.simpson@lagrangenews.com