The annual Poplar Bluff Rotary Club Casino Night and Mouse Race was a sold-out affair, bringing in about $10,000 for the causes the group supports.
The night of entertainment, located at the Holiday Inn Ballroom, saw hundreds of participants Saturday.
“We have been hosting it most of the time here at the Holiday Inn,” said Steve Hicks, the president of the club. “But originally, when we started we had it at the (Black River) Coliseum.”
As far as the goal of the Rotary Club’s Casino Night, Hicks said the organization is just trying to raise money for local charities.
“We donate to the Boys and Girls Clubs,” he said, as well as the nonprofit Sleep in Heavenly Peace.
Hicks said it takes around 40 volunteers to put on the event every year and the annual fundraiser generates approximately $10,000 for local charities. It takes around three months of planning to make the evening a success.
This year, Hicks said the event was so popular that they had to turn away people at the door who had yet to purchase a ticket.
One sponsor of the event, Mike Cook, said he has donated food for the past seven years.
“We provide pizza, concession-type foods, pretzels, popcorn, nachos, fruit and vegetable trays, cookies and desserts,” he said.
Cook said his main inspiration for providing donations is because the Rotary Club contributes much within the community.
“I have met a lot of other business leaders within the community,” he said. “But the Rotary Club helps a lot of charities within the community.”
Past Rotary Club president Dawn Hicks said a few of the volunteers that helped to prepare for the event were provided by Poplar Bluff High School’s Interact Club.
“They step up and always volunteer to help us prepare the day before the event,” she said.
She called the Interact Club a high school version of the Rotary Club.
Hicks said the organization is always looking for new members interested in joining the club.
“Our theme this year is ‘Hope in the World,’” he said.