About 300 women dressed in imaginative outfits gathered in the Barefoot Ballroom of the Basin Park Hotel on Tuesday night, April 16, for the annual Goddess Gala and Blessing of the Seeds Festival. They brought gourmet eats, artwork and their pocketbooks to benefit the Merlin Foundation and its sister organization, Grandma’s House Children’s Advocacy Center.
The women-only event included a silent auction of handmade jewelry, visual art pieces and other items that was expected to raise at least $10,000 by the night’s end. Proceeds also came from tickets sold in advance and at the door. Tables of hors d’oeuvres and sweet treats, wine and non-alcoholic drinks fueled the energetic crowd.
Women came with friends, they brought family, they came with neighbors – they even came with co-workers. Drs. Stacey Burnett and Nora Gibbons brought their clinic staff. The evening included a blessing of the seeds by Melissa Sunshine and a dance to drumming and music that brought many to join on the ballroom floor.
Kaleigh Evans, development and community education coordinator for Grandma’s House Children’s Advocacy Center, became emotional — and evoked some tears among attendees — while talking about the mission and the needs of Grandma’s House. The community-based nonprofit facility provides hope and healing to abused children and their non-offending caregivers.
A team of just 17 professionals serves a seven- county region with almost 30 percent of the cases arising in Carroll County. As of Tuesday — 107 days into 2024 — Grandma’s House had opened cases on 101 abused children.
“The divine energy that is in this room — the love, the powerful speeches — will carry over to the children we serve,” Evans said.
Valerie Hubbard Damon started the Goddess Gala 15 years ago as a way and place for women to gather in the spring and celebrate “the renewal of life.”
“Over the years, the word spread and the costumes got more elaborate,” Damon said.
Soon donations outpaced expenses and the Merlin Foundation became the beneficiary of leftover funds. Last year’s gala raised about $7,000, she said.
