LITTLE ROCK — There are dozens of major fund-raising parties in Little Rock. But you won’t find many that use Frankenstein’s monster and his bride as mascots.
The Tiny Hands Monster Bash fundraiser for the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Family Home and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit bills itself as Little Rock’s only Halloween costume party fundraiser.
Co-chairmen Brandee McCaslin and Julia Shockley stress the theme for the night, which is to have a wickedly good time, whether you choose to dress up or not.
“[Dressing up] makes it more fun,” Mc-Caslin explains. “But then, you don’t feel uncomfortable if you’re not dressed.”
McCaslin and Shockley point out an elaborately dressed Alice in Wonderlandtheme group as stand-outs last year.
“The year before we did [rock group] KISS and we even had groupies,” McCaslin remembers with a laugh. “There were so many people there that I know personally, but I didn’t even recognize them because the costumes were so neat.”
The venue, Next Level Events, will get the full creepy-crawly treatment.
“Our decoration committee is fantastic,” McCaslin says. “There are huge coffins and mummies.”
Aside from the costumes and the ghoul friendly atmosphere, there will be music, a palm reader, drinks and food, as well as opportunities for prizes in the costume contest and raffle, and a little competitive bidding in live and silent auctions.
The live auction will include items and trips. Some, such as a duck-hunting package and a trip to Napa Valley, have been donated by UAMS doctors and staff.
The UAMS NICU nurses are also getting in on the action with a baby diaper-theme wine pull.
You may think that scary costumes and creepy decorations sound like an evening of family fun. You’d be wrong. McCaslin, Shockley and the posters and invitations all stress that this is for “mature ghouls and goblins” only - no one under 21 allowed.
Children may not be admitted to the party, but they’re not far from people’s minds.
A portion of the night’s proceeds goes to a special project in the UAMS NICU.
“We have these little molds that they make of the babies’ feet and hands,” Shockley says. “Part of the money helps pay for that. They give them to all the families that are there.”
The molds are tiny, two or three sets of hands easily fitting in an adult’s palm. Small as they are, they can make a big impact.
“Families have been really impressed with the little molds,” McCaslin says. “Sometimes babies don’t make it but [the families] have memories.”
Most of the money raised, though, goes to something many people have never heard of or noticed - the 15-room UAMS Family Home on Markham Street.
The home opened in 2003 and provides accommodations for parents of babies in the NICU and for UAMS cancer patients undergoing treatment.
“It’s a wonderful thing for people that don’t have anywhere to go or to stay,” McCaslin says. “When you don’t live here and you don’t have family here, where do you go?”
For people needing to stay close for extended periods, a hotel just isn’t financially feasible.The Family Home is far less expensive.
“The cost is $10 a night but if someone is unable to pay it, they waive it,” McCaslin says. “That’s why we do these events.”
Robin Dean, coordinator of the Auxiliary Cancer Support Center at the house, agrees.
“So many of the cancer patients wouldn’t be able to come here for treatment. That’s why this house was built, because these patients used to stay in their cars or their vans.”
Shockley has a personal connection to the house. Her brother was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer and lived in the house for five months while undergoing treatment.
Everything except food is provided for residents, from shampoo and Internet access to transportation. But the intangibles can make an even biggerdifference.
“It wasn’t just a place to lay your head,” Shockley says, remembering her brother’s time at the home. “It was the support groups and the friendships he made with the other patients who were here.”
Her brother died in 2008.
“After that, Robin asked if I would serve on the board. ... Brandee’s one of my best friends and she loved my brother as much as I did and got involved.
“Our board is such a diverse group of volunteers who give their time up every month. Because we have our meetings here, we see patients walking down the hall and we look up and go ‘This is why we’re doing this.’ It just makes it so real.” There are many opportunities to help, by bringing meals or donating basic items like paper towels and cleaning supplies or little bottles of soap and shampoo.
McCaslin says the residents are “very appreciative. They send letters and notes.”
Dean recalls a recent letter from a mother of premature twins, who wrote, “‘It is so wonderful to have this facility to be able to stay so close to my angels.’ I get to hear that kind of thing every day. People just don’t know what they would do without this facility.”
Shockley says, “Everybody knows somebody” who has been touched by cancer, or by an ill or premature infant.
“It’s a nice way to honor somebody’s memory, to be able to just give back to other families the way they gave to us.”
The Monster Bash is a chance for everyone to pitch in and give back - and if you can do that while dressed up like the Queen of Hearts or Elvis Presley, all thebetter.
The Tiny Hands Monster Bash is 7-11:30 p.m. Saturday at Next Level Events, 1400 W. Markham St. Tickets are $50. Call (501) 920-2328 or visit
uamsfamilyhome.org
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High Profile, Pages 41 on 10/23/2011