Baker Youth Club 'Madness' Fundraiser Set for March 8
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Jordan Fouts-
Baker Youth Club is spinning off its annual fundraiser and awards night into two events starting next month. The new BYC Madness fundraiser, March 8 at the Wagon Wheel Theatre, will feature a raffle, live and silent auctions, a halftime show with Wawasee cheerleaders and a shoot-off between Warsaw and Wawasee high school basketball players. The pregame tailgate starts at 6 p.m. and the tip off is 7 p.m. Advanced tickets are $25 from BYC, 765 W. Market St., Warsaw, or $30 at the door. A team of eight also can get together for $250, which includes preferred seating and a promotional banner. Food and drink vendors include American Table, Downtown Eatery and Top Dogz, and beer and wine also will be available for purchase. About 50 items are available in the silent and live auctions, which BYC Director Tracy Furnivall estimated are worth $25,000 to $30,000 altogether. Highlights, donated by area businesses and individuals, include a one-week stay at Marco Island, Fla., four Indianapolis Colts tickets, a $1,000 travel voucher and a chartered fishing trip. The shoot-off will pit Wawasee players KiLee Knafle and Alex Clark against Warsaw’s Lindsey Baker and Jared Bloom to see who can make the most baskets in the same amount of time. Corporate sponsors have pledged $10 a point and attendees can make a pledge as well. The featured speaker will be Jeff Grose and the emcee is Kevin Deardorff. The annual awards dinner, which will recognize the boy and girl of the year and other honors, is set for May 16 at 6 p.m. at BYC. Tickets are free but reservations should be made in advance. Furnivall said they decided to split the fundraiser from the awards night to focus more on attracting the funds vital to program growth. “This is potentially the biggest fundraiser that helps support all our programs throughout Kosciusko County,” he said, which includes about 850 kids at seven locations. He noted Baker runs five buses for transportation to school programs and has provided 33,000 free snacks and 5,000 meals so far this school year. “We’ve never marketed an event so much,” he added, citing the billboards and radio and newspaper spots providing the push for the fundraiser. BYC has grown in the past 87 years to run after-school programs in Warsaw, Syracuse, North Webster, Milford, Claypool and Leesburg, which are attended by about 300 kids per night.
