North Star Child Advocacy Center sets gala for Saturday
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PARKERSBURG -- North Star Child Advocacy Center will hold its inaugural gala from 6-9 p.m. Saturday at the Parkersburg Art Center.
About 190 people have registered for North Star Night Out, which Executive Director Greg Collins hopes will become the listening center's signature event.
"With the support growing for North Star tremendously over the past year, I knew we needed a signature annual event like so many other successful organizations," Collins said. "It's looking like we may have found it."
As the planning went from the concept to the planning stages, the hope was to just get 100 people to support North Star for the first event with most of them being new to the cause.
"We knew being an inaugural event it would expectedly have its challenges getting off the ground. What has transpired over the last two months has been nothing short of amazing," Collins said.
Jessie Siefert and Laurel Sloane of the Parkersburg Art Center helped with the initial planning. Valley Catering, Wine Down on Market and Premiere Productions Entertainment ensured the quality of the event, Collins said.
North Star is approaching its 10th anniversary in 2024 and Collins wanted to do a video about the agency's story. After getting some suggestions, he went with Steve Spencer and Spencer Imageworks to film and produce the product.
"Steve and I have been working on this since the middle of October. There have been numerous people interviewed for the piece and each of them had compelling information. Steve is disappointed that much of it will have to be cut out due to time constraints for the video, but that means the final product will be amazing," Collins said.
The video will debut at the gala and will be used to send to potential funders upon request in the future.
Art from children from some of the counties North Star serves has been created and is on display at the Art Center at this time and will be displayed through the end of the gala. The work will be available at a silent auction and all proceeds will go directly to NSCAC general operations.
Among special guests will be the North Star assistance dog, Creighton, and its partner, Amanda Rubenstein, who works for the state Department of Corrections. North Star utilizes her through Paws4Prisons.
Music for the gala will be provided by Marie Mallory and Francesca Sanders, 15.
The event will include the presentation of the first Shooting Star Awards to be given to those who have gone above and beyond in the fight against child abuse or have made a substantial impact on North Star itself in its mission.
Signature sponsors are Williamstown Bank and Conley Law Office. One sponsor wanted to remain anonymous. Table sponsors are Wesley Bargeloh, KVC West Virginia, The Memorial Church of the Good Shepherd, Chad and Mercedes Nemesek and Stacy DeCicco.
The event will be aired by Jack Horton with V96.9 FM and Brian Guthrie with CAS Cable.
For more information, go to northstarcac.org.