Art sale and gala raises money for Butler community meals
The people serving community meals every weekday at churches in Butler have seen an increase in people coming for food this year, so the collective’s annual gala and art show, scheduled for Saturday, March 29, is as important as it has ever been.
Justine Brown, who helps manage Katie’s Kitchen and organizes the annual gala, said the group started the event three years ago, to raise money for the five churches that serve the meals. The collective of churches collaborates with local artists, who sell art at the gala to be part of the fundraising.
“We try to highlight local art,” Brown said. “It has become a really fun event.”
The Community Meal Ministry Annual Gala and Art Show takes place from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday at St. Michael’s Hall, 432 Center Ave. in Butler. The art show portion of the event is open from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the church hall.
The event benefits the five churches that serve meals: First English Lutheran Church on Mondays, All Saints Parish St. Paul Roman Catholic Church on Tuesdays, St. Andrews Presbyterian Church on Wednesdays, Katie’s Kitchen at St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church on Thursdays; and First United Methodist Church on Fridays.
The art show will feature five artists, Paul Means, Jennifer Spryn, Shauna McChesney, Lizz Ford and Lisa Sten, who are each contributing pieces to the sale that will benefit the community meals.
“A portion of the art sold will go to the food kitchens,” Brown said.
Means, an artist from Butler, said he has sold art at the event since it began, and it is a good opportunity to not only meet customers and appreciators of visual arts, but be a part of a community initiative that feeds so many people.
Additionally, Means helped recruit artists to the event this year, to help get more people involved in the fundraising effort.
“What we tried to do is get some new people from the community into this event,” Means said. “The quality of the art is going to be really, really good. I hope people come and see what Butler is able to produce.”
Means said he is encouraging the artists of the event to bring a lot of artwork, and to “put their best foot forward.” He said most of the art available at the sale will likely be prints, but some of the artists might bring other formats to sell at different price points.
“I have had the greatest success with prints there,” Means said.
Tickets for the gala part of the event are $30 per person, and includes dinner. There will also be live music and alcoholic beverages at the event, as well as basket raffles and a 50/50 drawing.
Brown said the volunteers who run the community meals program and the gala also use the event to push the importance and impact of the community meals, to also try to get more people involved in their service. She said the gala has raised about $90,000 in the three years it has taken place, which has helped the churches keep up with the need for daily meals in the community.
“We served 18,000 meals last year,” Brown said. “This year we have been seeing more people than we’ve seen in a long time.”
To purchase tickets for the Community Meal Ministry Annual Gala, visit cmmbutler.org.
