DEVILS LAKE – The 10th Annual Charity Ball took a different tune Monday evening.
There were some similarities to last year’s event. The Sept. 19 event was a softball event, which marked the second year in a row where the event occurred on a softball diamond instead of a basketball court. And teachers battled others in a team vs. team format (again, on the diamond as opposed to the court).
Instead, the critical difference came in the funding. And more importantly, who would receive the funds. Compared to previous Charity Balls (where one specific person received the funding), the 2022 rendition was geared toward helping multiple people or families.
“Between students and families of students, and we wanted to be able to help more people,” Central Middle School teacher Megan Wasness said. “So, we’ve decided that instead of giving all of the funds to one person or family, we are creating a charity ball fund, and then, throughout the school year, people will be able to nominate students or families who are in need of some financial assistance due to maybe a medical or crisis situation where they need those funds, and then we will be able to give those out to more people.”
Through forms open year-round, people can fill out individuals or families they think should be eligible for the funding. A committee will then determine how much funding should be given to the individuals or families.
“Last year, we started thinking about, you know, possible changes for this year, and maybe who we wanted to select,” Wasness said. “We just started really thinking about, well, there are so many people that need help once the Charity Ball is already done, and then we are not able to help them. And when our event comes around again, it’s almost too late to help them because they have already had their benefits, or too much time has passed, and they don’t need that anymore.”
Like previous Charity Balls, the Monday evening event helped unite the community to support a common cause. And everyone had the opportunity to watch a fun softball game, to boot. Central Middle School/Prairie View won, 17-14.
However, the softball game also marked the beginning of a new era for the event as a whole. And with it, it allowed support to go not just toward one person or family, but to many, in due time.
To Wasness, the Monday event helped achieve just that.
“We thought it would be really cool if we could offer them some help in that moment and have a fund to be able to do that,” Wasness said.