CONWAY — Get out your fancy hats and bow ties — it’s Kentucky Derby time.
Specifically, it’s time for the fourth annual Pony Up for Haven, a Kentucky Derby party. The fundraiser for the Conway shelter for neglected and abused girls will be at 4 p.m. May 6 at the Conway Country Club’s main dining room.
“We do dinner and drinks and a live auction,” said Marti Jones, executive director of Haven.
Several big-screen televisions will be set up to watch the Kentucky Derby, too, Jones said. A live band will perform after the race.
Live-auction items include an all-inclusive trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; a guided duck hunt with lodging and meals; an airplane ride above Conway; a fish fry “in your own backyard”; a dinner party for eight at the winning bidder’s home; and more, Jones said.
“All proceeds will go to general operating [expenses] for the things we need every single day for these girls — clothes, backpacks, school supplies and hygiene supplies,” she said.
Haven was formerly called Help for Abuse Victims in Emergency Need, but the name was changed. The tag line “Every Child Deserves a Home” is used as well.
The nonprofit organization launched a $2.4 million capital campaign in January to build a 9,500-square-foot home for the girls at Tyler Street and Country Club Road. The structure will have 14 bedrooms.
A program of Counseling Associates Inc., Haven opened 31 years ago in Conway and has been in a 1910, two-story home at 1701 Donaghey Ave. for the past 13 years. The house isn’t conducive to a dozen teenage girls, and the kitchen is inadequate, Jones said in an earlier interview.
She said it’s a challenge to raise money for Haven’s daily operations while asking people for money through the capital campaign.
“Within the first three months, we’ve raised $750,000, so we’re really excited about that, and it’s all from local people and local businesses and people who have supported Haven for years,” Jones said.
The goal is to raise 40 percent, or $960,000, by May to enable the nonprofit to go before foundations and apply for grants.
She said rooms in the new home are being sold for naming rights.
“We’ve sold 26 rooms [of the 56 room- or facility-naming spaces]. Businesses are doing this; families are going in together to do this. The girls’ bedrooms are what we have left, which is surprising to me.”
However, she said the girls’ bedrooms are $38,000 each. “Three families have gone in together; some are pledging it out over a three-year period.”
Jones said the house plan and rooms available for naming can be seen online at www.havenconway.org.
Tickets for Pony Up for Haven are $30 each or four for $100. They are available on the Event Brite website by searching for “Pony Up for Haven,” by calling Haven at (501) 327-1701, or at the door.
“Everybody’s in traditional Kentucky Derby attire, big hats and bow ties,” Jones said, adding with a laugh that she hasn’t gotten her hat yet. “I always wait till the last minute.”
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.