Volunteers with Angel Charity for Children are going all-in for two local nonprofits with The Big Deal Texas Hold ‘Em Tournament, Casino & Dance Club event.
The fundraiser is at 6 p.m. Aug. 26 at Hacienda Del Sol Guest Ranch Resort.
“This is a great event with something for everyone. Advanced poker players love the tournament, but if you are an amateur or have never played there are instructions and cheat sheets and people to teach you about the different poker hands. Others come to enjoy the casino, dinner and dancing. This has really grown from a poker tournament into one of our signature fundraisers,” said Jessica Ell, chairwoman of the event.
The Angels hope to raise at least $50,000 during the evening for the 2017 beneficiaries: The Diaper Bank of Southern Arizona and Beads of Courage. The organization, which has raised about $27 million for local children’s charities since its inception in 1983, has pledged $600,000 to retire the mortgage of the Diaper Bank of Southern Arizona and $100,000 to benefit an arts-in-medicine program for Beads of Courage.
Both nonprofits provide diverse philanthropic opportunities for Angel Charity to help impact the community, according to Olivia Sethi, 2017 general chairwoman.
Sethi said the diaper bank, which distributed more than 1 million diapers to babies locally last year, has emerged as a one-of-a-kind model for more than 200 other diaper banks across the nation and that it will become among the first in the country to own a warehouse.
“If we pay off the mortgage, the diaper bank has estimated they will be able to buy $8.5 million more diapers than they otherwise would throughout the life of their mortgage. They can either spend their money on the mortgage or on diapers. They were the first diaper bank in the country and we are excited to be an important part of their model for becoming financially stable and reaching their goal of serving more children in Pima County,” Sethi said.
The Beads of Courage arts-in-medicine program will fill another unique niche in the community by providing visual arts, literary arts and performing arts for children coping with cancer and serious illness, their families and the clinicians who care for them at Banner Children’s at Diamond Children’s Medical Center, Tucson Medical Center and through workshops hosted at the Beads of Courage headquarters.
The program will expand current offerings to include a teaching partnership with students from the UA College of Fine Arts that will benefit at least 8,000 children annually.
Started locally in 2003, Beads of Courage has partnered with more than 260 children’s hospitals and now provides services to about 60,000 children globally each day.
“It is important to us to choose beneficiaries that can sustain their programs year after year and continue their work after our funding. Based on their model and the incredible things they have been able to do in other cities, we believe that Beads of Courage will continue to grow here,” said Sethi.
