Rotarians are looking to raise some money Friday and have a little fun doing it during the Rotary Club of Columbus’ annual fundraiser.

The event, beginning at 6 p.m. Friday at Lion Hills Center, combines a $5,000 drawdown with a Casino Night, bourbon and wine tasting, food and door prizes.

President Russell Young said the event – the club’s only annual fundraiser – plays a major role in funding Rotary efforts throughout the year.

“Our slogan is ‘Service Above Self,’ so what we strive to do is, we try to help the communities in which we’re located,” Young told The Dispatch on Monday. “… The club does this on an annual basis, and the proceeds from the event go to help fund our service projects throughout the year.”

Of the $13,000 raised during last year’s event, $12,000 went back into the community, Young said, supporting organizations like the Mississippi Spelling Bee, the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science Foundation, My Book of Lowndes County, United Way of the Golden Triangle Region, Main Street Columbus and Lowndes County First-generation Youth Realizing Success Together.

Funds from the event also help support international Rotary service work. Young said a group of Rotarians is in Mexico this week, providing clean water filters to communities there.

“The vast majority of the funds do stay right here locally, here in Columbus and Lowndes County,” Young said. “And then we do fund part of that Mexico service project because Rotary is an international organization.”

This year, the club is aiming higher, with a fundraising goal of at least $15,000.

“We’d like to raise as much as we possibly can because the more we raise, the more of an impact we can have on the community,” Young said.

This is the second year the annual drawdown fundraiser has coincided with Casino Night, which ended up being a big hit among attendees last year, Rotarian Amy Bogue told The Dispatch.

“Everybody that has gotten a ticket gets a certain amount of funny money, and you just get to play. It’s playing for fun,” she said. “And throughout the night, there will be prizes as well with the drawdown going on.”

The drawdown offers ticketholders a chance to win $5,000.

“It’s pretty fun,” she said. “It gets down to the … last five people, and then they can choose to split and all get $1,000, or they can choose to say no, and then the winner gets $5,000.”

Casino offerings for the night include six blackjack tables, along with craps, poker and roulette, as well as bourbon and wine tastings, door prizes and a wine pull.

“We just wanted to put on a fun community event, and we welcome anybody that can join us,” Bogue said.

General admission tickets for the event are $75, and drawdown tickets with admission are $125. Each ticket admits two adults and includes food and casino credit. To purchase tickets, contact Bertram Jenkins at (662) 251-1111 or email [email protected].

McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.