Murphy – The historic Hackney Warehouse buzzed with fancily dressed people laughing, drinking and aggressively bidding on coveted items during a live auction on Nov. 13.
A Yeti cooler sold for $280 after a protracted back-and-forth bidding war only to be tossed back into the fat inventory stash when the winner donated it back to the live auction. Dozens of wares and services, including two framed Spiderman comic book covers and, most sought after, a Keurig machine tempted the guests during a silent auction.
All this fanfare and generous tossing about of money was part of the second annual HAVEN Children’s Advocacy Center $5,000 Raffle fundraiser.
“This event is meant to raise money but also to offer a ‘thank you’ to those behinds the scene who support our efforts.,” Executive Director Anna James said. Those efforts include protecting and healing children who have suffered through child abuse, sexual assault and human trafficking.
One of the behind-the-scenes supporters was Nancy Dickey. Her interest in helping children victims started decades ago, when she worked as a high school teacher.
“I would listen to the students share experiences that I thought were I inappropriate situations for them to be in,” Dickey said. She felt powerless to help them.
“At that time, there were no resources available, no HAVEN,” she added. “I had no authority to protect them. All I could do was to listen.” Dickey channeled that powerlessness into action by serving as a board member for HAVEN.
Master Gardner Mary Anne Duffy offers her expertise to HAVEN by working in their gardens.
“Anything kids can do outdoors helps kids,” she said, adding, “When I was out there working in the flower beds, I kept finding these little statues of horses or fairies. Each time I came out, I would find them settled in different spots, so I know the kids were out there playing.
“I was always mindful to put the figurines exactly where I found them, so if a child came looking for it it would be there waiting.”
Cheryl and Harry McCarthy drove 10 hours from Florida to get to the event. While they have no direct experience with HAVEN, they wanted to “support the victims,” saying, “We want to be generous with what we’ve got.”
Teenagers Anna Brinkey and Cayla Geer gave up a Saturday night to volunteer at the event. Brinkey said, “We just felt it was the right thing to do.”
“‘C.J the DJ” and his wife, Katie Lusk, felt the same way. They ran the entertainment for the evening, playing a variety of music including pop, symphonic and, most appreciated by the crowd, old-fashioned country music.
When he is not a DJ, CJ works as a middle school earth and science teacher. He often sees hungry kids in his classroom.
“I see struggling kids all the time,” he said. “They behave poorly because they are hungry and tired. I just keep a large supply of snacks for them. Kids can’t learn if they are hungry.”
Sherry Anderson’s attendance was not based on personal experience but rather, “I was blessed with a happy childhood, and I want to support HAVEN to offer that experience to other kids.”
Cherokee County Schools Superintendent Jeana Conley served as keynote speaker and spoke candidly about the population of children HAVEN serves.
“Last year, they helped 166 children who were living in abusive situations,” she said. “This year they have already surpassed that number.”
With the assistance of teacher Michael Kernea, she demonstrated the power of worth by telling Kernea to stomp, crumple and finally rip a $20 bill. Kernea was hesitant to rip it, causing Conley to joke, “He’s a poor teacher, so it’s hard for him to rip a $20!”
At each attempt of destruction, she asked Kernea to say the bill’s value. Even after it was ripped in two, and Kernea jokingly said he was going to look for some tape, Conley pressed the point that the bill was still worth $20.
“Regardless of the damage, the worth is still there,” she said – just like with children.
Mayor-elect Tim Radford bought his $100-a-plate raffle ticket because he “understand[s]the impact HAVEN has on our community.” He spoke of in-house forensic interviewer Kristy Green, who “stopped the children from having to ride in the back of a police car all the way to Asheville where they had to tell their story over and over. It was traumatizing to them each time.”
Dustin Smith, the town’s assistant police chief, and his wife, Dorothy, a registered nurse, joined the event to show their gratitude for all HAVEN does for children who have been victimized. Because they both work on the front lines of domestic abuse, they understand firsthand the impact HAVEN has on the children.
Smith said he has attended countless domestic disturbance calls where children are being harmed.
“HAVEN fills in the gap for these kids,” he added.
Smith has been around long enough to see some of the kids he found in harrowing circumstance “grow up and become successful.” They both attribute that success to HAVEN and other programs that help children.
After a dinner of tuscan chicken breast and glazed spiral ham served with potato mash, haricot verts and butternut squash, the $5,000 raffle opened. This unique event pulls multiple names from the bowl. The potential winners then decide, as a group, if they want to split the winnings equally among them or take their chances to remain standing the longest.
When the group was winnowed down to five people, they chose to not tempt fate and to split the money between them. The happy winners were, Jena Szewczyk, Lynn Taylor, Emily Kephart and Tammy Holloway and William Keith Crawford.
Dean Gibson, wearing “loud trousers,” summed up the event by saying, “I’m a loudmouth and am looking forward to giving my money to HAVEN.
“It’s all about the kids.”