ALTON - The Alton YWCA will host a trivia night to fund their free community and youth programs.
Doors open at 6 p.m. and the trivia starts at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023, at the Best Western Premier Conference Center in Alton. In addition to trivia, attendees can enjoy a 50/50 raffle, silent auction and “a wagon of booze” raffle, according to Alton YWCA Executive Director Dorothy Hummel. All proceeds go back to the organization.
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“This trivia night is important to us because it brings in dollars, it gives us an opportunity to talk about what we do and provides the financial support to us so we’re able to offer those programs for free to most of the community,” Hummel said. “Our mission is ‘Eliminating racism, empowering women.’ We focus on developing racial justice events and programs and social justice events and programs.”
Many of these programs are child-centric. The Child Enrichment program works with the Alton, Wood River-Hartford and Roxana school districts to provide before and after school childcare, as well as camps during summer and holiday breaks.
This program comes with a fee, but most of YWCA’s programming is completely free to parents. The community tutoring program and Riverbend Reading Club provide academic support to students. Kids can also join the Girls Circle or Boys Council, which Hummel described as “structured support groups” for ages 10–14. Both groups meet with an adult facilitator to build self-worth and leadership skills.
“The goal is to help kids use their authentic voices in an emotionally safe space to develop their ability to communicate with their peers and with the adult facilitator and develop resiliency skills,” Hummel said. “The Boys Council also focuses on developing skills where they talk about feelings and dealing with anger and resentment.”
These are just a few of the services offered by YWCA; visit their official website for a full list of programs. Most of these resources are free, so the YWCA relies on grants and donations to operate. As per their mission statement, the organization advocates for inclusion, which Hummel considers “a unique thing for us in the community.”
“Most of our participants really have no ability to pay, and that’s why we raise funds,” Hummel explained. “It is just really thrilling to me that we’re able to offer programs and services where…kids are able to make friends from a different demographic group. Sometimes just having relationships with folks that don’t look like you or don’t come from the same income stream, I think it’s really helpful in understanding different cultures and whatnot. At YWCA, being different is okay, and we welcome and thrive on those differences here.”
Single tickets for the trivia night are $25 or $200 for a table of eight. Trivia starts at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023. The event will be held at Best Western Premier, located at 3559 College Avenue in Alton. Attendees are welcome to bring outside food but all drinks must be purchased at the event. Purchase your tickets here or go to the official YWCA website at AltonYWCA.com for more information.
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