By Stacey Margaret Jones | Photo by Emily Rockwell for Party with a Heart
Party with a Heart is a little more than halfway through its year, but the board is already gearing up to pick its new nonprofit partner for 2018.
Party with a Heart is a new nonprofit in Central Arkansas that chooses an organization each year for which its board and volunteers will raise money and awareness for one calendar year. Most events are just for women, designed to be low-key, fun events that benefit the partner charity that also focuses on, or has programs that directly benefit, Arkansas women.
Party with a Heart is now accepting applications for its 2018 nonprofit partner. Your charitable organization could be next if you fit the qualifications and submit your application by the deadline.
The first year of PWH was 2016, and that year the three founding board members, Tifany Hamlin, Yvette Parker and Lisa Brumley, and their volunteers for two parties and smaller events raised $22,000 for PATH—Partners Against Trafficking Humans.
“When we started raising money at the beginning of 2016,” said Hamlin, “Lisa, Yvette and I all felt that no one we met with had ever heard of PATH.” She said they often had to explain to potential donors and sponsors what the organization does.
“The issue of sex trafficking in Arkansas was a hidden issue when we launched Party with a Heart last year,” said Hamlin. She noted that PATH is now covered in local news regularly, and through all the media coverage generated by PWH events, more people know about the issue and the work PATH is doing to advocate for trafficking victims in the region.
Also, during the 2017 session, PATH was able to lobby the Arkansas Legislature to pass a law mandating that every person with a commercial driver’s license in the state to complete annual trafficking awareness training.
PATH’s successes are exciting to the board of Party with a Heart, which now includes Jenna Martin, Stacey Margaret Jones and volunteers like Eileen Devereaux, who is co-chairing the group’s next event – the Mamma Mia! Sing Along on September 30th – with Jones. Tickets are still available for this event for women and by women that supports this year’s nonprofit partner, Literacy Action of Central Arkansas.
Read more about PWH’s partnership with Literacy Action of Central Arkansas on the blog August 17th.
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About the author: Stacey Jones joined the board of Party with a Heart this year after serving on the Mamma Mia! Sing-a-Long committee in 2016. She is an independent market research consultant, writer and yoga teacher who lives in Conway with her author husband and three literarily named dogs.
About the photo: Party with a Heart board members are joined by the 2016 and 2017 nonprofit partner directors in January to award $22,000 to PATH. Left to right: Yvette Parker, Jenna Martin, Lisa Brumley, Sara Drew, Louise Allison, Stacey Margaret Jones and Tifany Hamlin.
