Event will raise money for seven organizations

If you’re interested in benefiting seven different organizations at once, there’s an event for you this weekend.

The Nansemond River Pilot Club presents its first-ever Southern Hospitality Gala on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the downtown Hilton Garden Inn. The event will benefit the Alzheimer’s Association, Project Lifesaver, the Social Butterflies Club, March of Dimes, the Brain Injury Association of Virginia, the American Cancer Society and the Children’s Center.

“It’s something different, new and unique that our club has done,” said Becky Adams, a member of the Nansemond River Pilot Club. “We want to try new things and get new people involved.”

Pilot International works to help prevent, treat and research diseases, injuries and disorders of the brain. Many of the organizations chosen to benefit from this event serve that purpose, Adams said.

The organizations also will be able to set up informational booths at the event so they can promote their causes, she said.

The event will include a sit-down dinner, dancing and a silent auction.

“It’s kind of like a semi-formal event,” Adams said. “With it being our first year, we’re hoping for whatever we can get. The first year is always the hardest, because we don’t know what to expect.”

The club has put on other fundraisers in the past, most notably the Womanless Beauty Pageant, which it decided to forgo this year. However, a few members still are putting on the event on their own and, as always, donating the proceeds to the American Cancer Society exclusively.

But six other organizations, as well as the cancer society, are set to benefit from this event. They include Project Lifesaver, which provides tracking devices for children and adults who have disabilities that make them inclined to wander, and the Social Butterflies Club, which provides language and social skills therapy for children with speech and language delays or disorders as well as autism spectrum disorders.

Tickets for the Southern Hospitality Gala are $40 each and include two drink tickets. To purchase tickets, call 539-9988 and ask for Becky Adams or Nancy Rountree.