The Food Finders Food Bank announced that the 11th Annual Blue Jean Ball will be held on Saturday, May 4 as the primary annual fundraising event for the organization that serves 16 counties including Clinton and Carroll counties.
The Blue Jean Ball, which is in partnership with the Purdue University College of Agriculture, acts as a community awareness and fundraising event for the organization to further support the food bank’s mission, which includes access to the Mobile Food Pantry, which has stops in Clinton County and Carroll County this month.
According to President and CEO of the organization Kier Crites Muller, the Blue Jean Ball has been a success with community members attending to support the organization as it supports the community around it.
“This event is always a great time,” Muller said. “When we started the Blue Jean Ball in 2013, we intended to create a fun, casual and meaningful event that would help us accomplish a very serious task–spreading the word about how many of our neighbors are facing hunger every day.”
The organization helps to distribute over 12 million pounds of food to approximately 65,000 Hoosiers each year with the aid of 100 partner agencies, meal programs and the food bank’s direct-service programs, which include BackPack, Fresh Market, Mobile Pantry, Senior Home Delivery, Education and Resource Coordination.
According to the orgnaization, the Blue Jean Ball’s annual net impact has grown over 400% since it was started in 2013, and the event has garnered over $924,000 over its iterations. All proceeds received during the event are utilized specifically to expand Food Finders’ existing direct-service programs to meet increasing needs in the 16-county area it serves.
Reportedly, the 2023 Blue Jean Ball netted over $174,000 to support the organization’s mission, setting a new record for the fundraising event.
The event will feature farm-to-table catering by Juniper Spoon with hosting from K105 WKOA’s Shamus in partnership with a live, local auctioneer hosting the silent and live auctions.
The event will kick off on Saturday, May 4 at 5:30 p.m. at Beck Agricultural Center at 4550 U.S. 52 W. in West Lafayette. Individual and full-table tickets are available for purchase at food-finders.org or by calling 765-471-0062.
Additionally, the Food Finders Mobile Pantry will visit Clinton County twice and Carroll County once as March comes to a close. The pantry has already visited Clinton County once this month, but due to increasing needs in the organization’s coverage areas, the pantry will return again.
The pantry will be at Riggs Community Health Center at 2121 S. Gopher Dr. in Frankfort at 11 a.m. on March 13 and at First Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Frankfort at 352 W. Clinton St. in Frankfort at 11 a.m. on March 26.
The pantry will also be at the Carroll County Fairgrounds at 800 E. Main St. in Flora at 10 a.m. on March 20.