Second annual adult prom to benefit Raleigh’s Place

Published 2:14 pm Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Adults in Chilton County will have the opportunity to attend a prom on April 18 benefitting Raleigh's Place, a children's home in Chilton County.

Adults in Chilton County will have the opportunity to attend a prom on April 18 benefitting Raleigh’s Place, a children’s home in Chilton County.

Adults in Chilton County will have the opportunity to attend a prom on April 18 benefitting Raleigh’s Place, a children’s home in Chilton County.

The second annual Raleigh’s Place Prom will be held from 7-10 p.m. at the Chilton County YMCA on Ollie Avenue in Clanton.

“We had a lot of fun last year, and we wanted to bring it back this year with a few changes,” said Natalie Holmes, one of the event’s organizers. “This is just a time where adults in the county can have an excuse to splurge on a date night and have some fun.”

One of the changes to the event this year is the age requirement being lowered to include individuals who are 20 or older.

The event is also open to couples and individuals.

Natalie Holmes said for those who did not attend last year, organizers describe the event as a "full prom experience."

Natalie Holmes said for those who did not attend last year, organizers describe the event as a “full prom experience.”

“Last year, we made the age range begin at 30, and we wanted to include more individuals this year,” Holmes said. “It isn’t for teenagers, but we wanted to include people in their 20s as well.”

Attire for the prom can be “dressy or formal” with men wearing slacks and button-down shirts or suits and women wearing dresses or pant suits.

“We had a mix last year of people who wore full formal attire or a lot of people wore just dressy church clothes,” Holmes said. “The whole point is for people to come and have a good time, so ultimately they can wear whatever they would like to. We don’t want to exclude anyone.”

Another change added to this year’s event is the addition of a prom photo booth.

“There will be someone taking pictures at the event, and we will e-mail the photos after the event is over,” Holmes said. “It will be an additional $10 for the photo booth pictures, but we will have different props and it will be a fun way for couples to have pictures taken of themselves or different groups have pictures and remember the night.”

Holmes said one of the reasons the event was originally organized was to offer a fun, unique event for adults in Chilton County with the proceeds from the event going to Raleigh’s Place.

“It is a great way to have a clean, fun night,” Holmes said. “We all had a blast last year, and by the end of the night every single person who attended was on the dance floor.”

Holmes said for those who did not attend last year, organizers describe the event as a “full prom experience.”

Josh and Charity Averhart were crowned the 2014 Raleigh's Place Prom King and Queen.

Josh and Charity Averhart were crowned the 2014 Raleigh’s Place Prom King and Queen.

Organizers of the event are also hosting a special promotion for anyone planning to attend by asking for old prom photos of people on the group’s Facebook page.

“We decided to ask people to submit their prom photos, and whoever gets the most comments will win a free photo booth session,” Holmes said. “Obviously, we understand by asking for prom photos on Facebook that it might lend itself to some teasing from people commenting, but we thought it would be fun.”

Tickets are $20 per person and can be purchased online or at Facebook.com/Raleighsplaceprom. Tickets are also available at the Chilton County Chamber of Commerce (cash or check) or will be available at the door (cash or check).

This year, the group would like to raise $2,000 and sell at least 100 tickets.

All of the money raised from the event will go toward the Camp 1:27 at Raleigh’s Place.

Camp 1:27 is a ministry of Raleigh’s Place, which is designed for children who are in foster homes or institutional settings the opportunity to come to camp for a week.

This year’s camp will begin June 7 and will host elementary age campers. Junior high week begins June 14 and teen week will be June 22.

For more information about the event, contact Holmes at (205) 914-8074.