Children’s fundraiser moved online
The Mississippi Children’s Museum, due to COVID-19, has reimagined their Neon Night fundraiser into a virtual raffle event.
The raffle began on Aug. 14t and will continue until Aug. 30.
“Our original plan was to have a party band, cocktail competition, and bar service. It was supposed to be more of a reception-type event,” said Julia Putt, chairman of Neon Night. “Now that we have to practice social distancing, we’re doing online raffles, so people can still participate and we can still have a way to raise money.”
Putt said the raffles to choose from include photography, jewelry, restaurants, and more. They contain $400-$600 worth of merchandise, in order to raise the amount of money they would if the event was in person, as planned.
“A single raffle is $10, and our other raffle packages are $25,” Putt said. “We have a ton of different options. Be mindful that there’s a lot of hidden things in the packages. It’s not a one and done deal, you will get your money’s worth.”
Kendall Siser, co-chairman of Neon Night, is thankful to the community for the support of the raffle.
“The community has really rallied around us,” Siser said. “We’re all struggling because of COVID, and we want to support the struggling businesses as much as the community members. Even when businesses are closed, though, they’re still helping out by delivering packages.”
Siser said the Mississippi Children’s Museum has played a big part in staying together during the pandemic.
“They’ve remained diligent all the way through this, which we are very thankful for,” she said. “It’s been a really great raffle up until this point, even though it’s plateaued over the past few days. We’re hopeful that interest will go back up and continue until the end.”
Siser noted that the best part of this event is the community involvement.
“Getting to support the community members is by far the greatest part of all this. There’s so many great programs that come from the museum, and they help the mission live on. We’ll also be holding another event on Oct. 18, Discovery Night. That will be from 4-6pm.”
Raffle tickets can be purchased at one.bidpal.net/neonnight until Aug. 30.