Anyone who works for a service organization or charitable cause knows the difficulty of obtaining funding either through a grant or the public. Just stating the reason isn’t always enough to get the money from people’s pockets to the place or person in need. Sometimes you’ve got to offer something more like a raffle and door prize, perhaps even a meal and entertainment.

The Suffolk Chapter of the American Red Cross is doing just that come Tuesday, March 18. &uot;Paint the Town Red Celebrity Benefit Dinner & Auction&uot; will be held in the Cedar Point Club.

The fundraiser continues annually because not only is it for a worthy purpose, but it’s entertaining in a popular way. The waiters will again be people you either know in Suffolk (Del. S. Chris Jones, Councilman Calvin W. Jones and Kandy Lewis of Denisons, for example), or perhaps see regularly from other media sources (Joe Hoppel, Craig Moeller and Janet Roach, to name a few). They’ll do what’s necessary to earn the big tips for occasion.

If that’s not enough to have familiar people wait on you, there’s an opportunity to buy a chance on getting a real one-quarter karat diamond, or at least a Cubic Zirconium stone, all courtesy of D.B. Bowles Jewelers.

There’ll be an auction featuring items donated by local businesses and Red Cross supporters.

But in order to get in on the fun, you’ll need a mere $50 ticket, which must be purchased by Friday, March 14 at the latest. The event begins with a social hour at 5:30 p.m., the meal follows at 6:30 p.m. and the auction begins at 8 p.m. For details, call 539-6645.

See you there!