BENTON — When Pam Ray, food director for the Churches Joint Council on Human Needs, Churches and Charitable Organizations, or CJCOHN, found out the city of Benton was hosting a fundraiser for the organization, she said she was pleasantly surprised.
“This will be the first time we have ever had anything like this, so I am looking forward to seeing how it will work out,” Ray said. “We were surprised when we got the invitation, and it is a wonderful thing for us because we are getting to do our Christmas baskets.”
The first White Christmas Ballroom Dance will be presented by Benton Mayor Tom Farmer and The Osage event venue. The dance is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the venue, 1110 Ferguson Drive. Tickets are $20 each, and semiformal attire is requested. Guests are asked to bring food items to be donated to CJCOHN.
“The White Christmas Ballroom Dance came about from a discussion we began a few weeks back,” Farmer said. “The movie White Christmas was the basis for the idea.
“As always, when we do something, we want to give back to the community, so we decided we would collect food items for CJCOHN.”
Ray, who has been the food director since 2000 and a volunteer for the organization since 1991, said that last year, the organization prepared 900 Christmas food baskets — spending close to $10,000.
“It cost a lot,” she said. “We have a lot of donations this time of year, so that really helps.”
Each Christmas basket features a turkey, eggs, milk, apples and oranges. She said area churches provide cranberry sauce, stuffing, cake mix and frosting. Ray said having the mayor host a fundraiser for the organization has been overwhelming.
“We were thrilled,” she said. “We thought it was awesome. Some of our volunteers plan to go, and I think the ballroom dancing is kind of funny, so we will try to do that.”
Farmer said Fran Nichols, one of the owners of The Osage event venue in Benton, “has been gracious enough to sponsor the event.”
“Fran and Tina [Coston] have worked out all the details for the event,” Farmer said. “We believe the event will be a lot of fun, while still giving back to the community.”
Nichols said her venue hosts a community dance about once a month from which the proceeds go to a local charity. She said a dance was given for the New Beginnings Pregnancy Center in Benton. Nichols said the amount of money raised has varied each time, depending on how many tickets were sold.
“Mayor Farmer came to one of our dances, and he said one of his favorite movies was White Christmas,” Nichols said. “Our instructors can teach the ballroom dances and do that for the first hour of the evening, and those who do not want to dance can have a good time and socialize.”
She said there will be door prizes and a donation box for nonperishable food items.
“We are just trying to help collect food for the pantry, but bringing food is not a requirement,” she said.
She said guests are encouraged to purchase tickets in advance, but no one will be turned away.
Food will be provided by Pasta J’s, Riverside Grocery and Vibrant Occasions. Nonalcoholic beverages will be provided by Brent Jones of Edward Jones Investments and Bodiddles. Tickets can be purchased at Bodiddles, the Benton Municipal Complex and the Osage Event Venue.
Farmer said there will be instruction on ballroom dancing because in the movie White Christmas, there is a lot of dancing and singing involved.
“We hope this dance will be an annual event for our community and that it will bring back what Christmas is all about, and that is giving out of love,” Farmer said. “This is what this season of life is all about, and that is loving the people around us.”
CJCOHN gave food to 700 families in November, and that’s up from October, when the organization served about 650.
“It goes up during the holidays,” Ray said. “People want to come and apply for the Christmas basket and pick up their food.”
She said anyone who wants a basket is given one, as long as they live in Saline County.
“We try to make sure the correct information is filled out on the application, but if they ask for one, we will give it to them,” she said. “Mainly, we don’t want anyone to try to double up and get more than one basket.”
Ray said everyone at CJCOHN is a volunteer, and “we do it because we love it.”
“We are just fulfilling the mission and helping those in need,” she said. “It is the satisfaction that we get by helping 900 families have a Christmas dinner — that is just an awesome feeling.
“It is a pretty awesome sight, to see them lined up and waiting, and the smile that comes on their faces when they pick up their baskets. It is just a great time.”
For more information on CJCOHN, call (501) 776-2912.
Staff writer Sam Pierce can be reached at (501) 244-4314 or spierce@arkansasonline.com.