Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By MICHELLE LOVE | Staff Writer

PELHAM –Blanket Fort Hope (BFH) will be hosting a special fundraising gala on Thursday, Feb. 17.

The nonprofit, which is based in Pelham, will be holding the premiere gala at Sloss Furnaces to raise money for their cause and future and current projects.

BFH is dedicated to helping survivors of child sex trafficking recover and heal from their abuse and trauma, and is the only nonprofit dedicated specifically to child survivors.

Justin Adderholt, the communications manager for BFH, said they hope to make the gala an annual event.

“We hope to raise $50,000 for the gala,” Adderholt said. “However, going into this year, we will need to raise $1.2 million, so we hope this will give us a good head start.”

There will be special three guest speakers at the gala, including survivor advocate Dixie Brenton, BFH CEO Alexa James and another special guest speaker Adderholt said they are “still working on.”

There will also be dinner provided by Happy Catering, a DJ and dance floor provided by Amerson Events and a silent auction featured trip packages, fine art, and a lot more.

“There will also be a ‘Children’s Room Experience’ we will display,” Adderholt said. “This will be a kind of ‘mock-up’ of what a girl’s room might look like in our home. Furniture for that space is being provided by Set to Sale.”

BFH is currently in the process of building a recovery home for trafficking survivors where the children can recover from their abuse and trauma in a safe and supportive space.

“Fingers crossed, we also hope to reveal the architectural plans for our home at this event,” Adderholt said. “We are working with Southeast Construction Partners, Gonzalez-Strength & Associates and Tucker Jones Engineers Associates to finalize the site and home plans for the property. It is still our hope to break ground in the early part of this year.”

BFH had many milestone moments this past year, including purchasing 73 acres in Shelby County, paying off the $350,000 property loan five months ahead of schedule (thanks to a generous donor who gave the nonprofit $200,000, according to Adderholt), partnering with The World Games 2022 to bring human trafficking awareness training to over 3,000 volunteers and placing 20 children into partner programs in 2021.

The gala is Thursday, Feb. 17 at 6 p.m.

People can register for the gala at blanketforthope.org/restoringhope. If they would like to donate to the silent auction, they may contact justin@blanketforthope.org. If they would like to donate directly to the capital campaign for the home, they can visit https://blanketforthope.org/donate/.