Gala will feed the hungry, provide fun night or day out
What started as a local artist offering to sell his work and donate a portion to the community meal ministry has morphed into a major fundraiser that supports daily dinners for needy people in Butler.
The third annual Community Meal Ministries Gala and Art Show will be April 13 and 14 at St. Michael Roman Catholic Church hall, 432 Center Ave., Butler.
The two-day event benefits the free evening meals served Monday through Friday at five Butler churches.
The gala will be from 6 to 9 p.m. April 13, when ticket holders will be able to peruse multiple works of art available for purchase at various price points and mingle with the three local artists selling their artwork. The three professional local artists this year are once again Mark Hall, Joe Pugliese and Paul Means.
The gala Saturday night also will feature appetizers, a cookie table, a cash bar and background music by Jamie Russo.
New this year is the addition of two local student artists at the gala, whose work will be exhibited but not sold.
Tickets for the gala are $30 per person and are available at any of the five churches where evening meals are served: First English Lutheran Church on North Main Street, St. Paul Roman Catholic Church on North McKean Street, Saint Andrews United Presbyterian Church on East Jefferson Street, St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church on West Jefferson Street, and First United Methodist Church on East North Street. Tickets will also be available at the door.
From noon to 3 p.m. April 14, the public is invited to bid on dozens of raffle baskets, enter the event’s 50/50 raffle, or peruse and buy artwork. Admission on Sunday is free.
Pugliese explained that as a college student many years ago, he remembers times when he went hungry because money was tight.
“I made it through, and after I retired from teaching, I thought ‘I will give back in some way,’” Pugliese said.
He met a woman at his dentist’s office who volunteered with Katie’s Kitchen at St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church, which provides a free community meal one night a week.
Pugliese jumped in with both feet and has now been a volunteer cook at Katie’s Kitchen for four years.
At one point, he had a discussion with Justine Brown, director of Katie’s Kitchen, regarding his notion to bring his paintings in for church members to see and possibly purchase after services.
Pugliese said he would donate 30% from the sale of each painting to Katie’s Kitchen and the four other downtown churches that provide meals.
“Justine said, ‘What a great idea. Let’s do a gala,’” Pugliese said.
He will bring 13 new paintings to the gala this year that will range in price from $75 to $1,200. All art at the show is high-end, he said.
“Come out and get some new art for your walls or get a gift for somebody,” Pugliese said.
Brown said the gala on Saturday will include a door prize drawing every 15 minutes. The prizes are gift cards from local businesses.
She said Butler Lions Club members will serve as bartenders and announce prizes.
Last year, the gala and art show raised more than $37,000 for the five-church meal ministry. She hopes to eclipse that amount this year.
“The number of people we are feeding since last year has doubled,” Brown said. “We certainly have a need, and it’s twice what it was last year, so we are trying to raise as much money as we can to feed the hungry in Butler.”
She said the gala provides an evening of fun as those in attendance nosh on appetizers donated by local restaurants and cookies from members of the five churches where meals are offered as they chat with the artists and peruse the artwork.
“We are just very appreciative of all the people who come out to support us,” Brown said. “We try to make it a fun evening for everyone so not only are they supporting us monetarily, but it’s an evening of fun and fellowship and it gets the community together to support an important cause.”
Pugliese agreed.
“It’s a nice way to give back to the community and have an evening out that’s a little bit different,” he said. “It’s just an amazing thing that people in Butler, a working town, turn out to support such an important cause.”
