HOWELL – The Southard Fire Department No.1 Ladies Auxiliary, which is an organization of primarily women who volunteer a significant amount of their time to help support the Southard Fire Department, hosted a Paint N ‘ Sip fundraiser at the Southard Fire House banquet hall to help benefit the department.
Attendees of the event showed up with their own food and alcohol, sat at circle-shaped tables, and socialized while creating sea glass art. A portion of the proceeds from each of the tickets went directly to supporting the Southard Fire Department.
To create the sea glass art, participants used various colors of sea glass and other beach-themed trinkets to fill in the different types of design templates they chose to use. The templates themselves had a Jersey Shore theme, with one being the shape of the state of New Jersey, and the others resembling various beach-related symbols such as a crab, starfish, seahorse, wave, and a sea turtle.
The different colors of sea glass complemented the beach-like theme, as the colors included blue, gray, white, brown, and black, while the beach-themed trinkets included miniature starfish, shells, and mineral rocks. Glue was used to keep the sea glass in the shape of the templates, creating a beautiful design once the template was removed.
In addition to the sea glass art, snacks and dessert were available for event goers. In addition, a raffle and a gift auction were held throughout the night, with the proceeds of those going to help out the fire department. Local businesses such as the Chapter House, Swing Time, Asbury Ale House, the Shoprite of Howell, and more sponsored the event and donated goods to the gift auction.
The goal of the entire event was to raise money for the Southard Fire House. The fire house itself depends on these donations to survive, and that money often gets used to fix issues around the station, buy new equipment, or anything that the department needs to stay up to standard.
The event was a huge success, according to Sara Tucker, the president of the Ladies Auxiliary. The event itself had over 60 people in attendance, which is one of their largest fundraising events in recent memory.
This event is just one of many different ways the Ladies Auxiliary helps out the fire department. They run more fundraising events just like this one, assist in community outreach events, help out with matters around the firehouse, and much more.
J&J Sip N’ Paint was the company that came out to run the sea glass event itself. Based in Red Bank, J&J is no stranger to providing its art services to local emergency service organizations in the area that are trying to raise money, as they have run fundraising events all around the Monmouth and Ocean County Areas.
The event was also used as an opportunity to promote the need for volunteers, not just for the Ladies Auxiliary but for the fire department itself. Those who wish to join the auxiliary must be over 18 and willing to help the team. If you are interested, reach out by email at SFD1LadiesAux@gmail.com or call/text 732-334-8705. Those looking to join the fire department can find the various requirements for service at southardfire.org
The post Sea Glass Art Makes A Beautiful Fundraiser appeared first on Jersey Shore Online.
