Get ready to laugh at crazy stage antics and tap your toes to favorite hits of the ‘60s when The Dweebs hit the stage at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 28, at the Huron Event Center.
The event is a fundraiser for the Jan Manolis Family Safe Center, and will include an auction featuring auctioneer Mike Corcoran, who volunteers his services.
Four items on the auction block will include four club-level all-inclusive Vikings tickets; two grandstand reserve seating tickets to the Toby Keith concert at the S.D. State Fair; a bouquet a month from Rainbow Flower Shop; and a wine a month from Manolis Grocery.
“Make an evening of it,” encouraged JMFSC advocate Nicole Erasmus, adding that money from specials on half-price appetizers and two-for-one drinks at Ryan’s Hanger Restaurant will also be donated to JMFSC.
Erasmus said they get sponsors cover the cost of bringing The Dweebs to Huron, so all money raised goes directly into the JMFSC to care for victims that look to the Center for help
“The whole purpose of this fundraiser is to reach a different crowd,” said Erasmus, who came up with the idea to bring the Dweebs in for this annual fundraiser. “We want to reach out to more of the community that might not have heard of us otherwise.
“All our services are local, so we want to reach out and let people know what we do,” she said.
Erasmus said her mother, the late Lori Hofer, was passionate about supporting the violence center, and it was natural to follow in her footsteps.
“I was raised to give back to the community,” she said. “I love to promote independent, strong women.”
Erasmus is one of 12 advocates who help by carrying the hotline phone, which is offered 24/7 by calling (605) 350-6663 or (605) 350-6690, while others volunteer to help with fundraisers or publicity or other chores that need to be done.
Besides the 24-hour hotline, they offer shelter, food, transportation, counseling, assistance with housing and job searches, assistance with protection orders, or anything else a victim might need.
From Jan. 1, 2017, to March 16, 2018, they sheltered 59 people for a combined total of 729 nights. During that same time, they provided services to 93 men, women and children who did not need shelter but were seeking other help.
The JMFSC has operated independently since 2009, but several advocates and staff have 34-plus years of experience serving victims.
“Domestic violence and sexual assault are things people don’t talk about,” Erasmus added. “Trust is one thing that is broken in a victim.
“It’s important to us as advocates that we relate to the victims so they feel strong enough to make a change,” she added.
Fundraisers, like The Dweebs event planned Saturday, April 28, are crucial to help keep the program running.
Other fundraisers include the Bags, Baubles and Bears auction on Sept. 22, a pancake fundraiser at The Lodge in October, Just Desserts at Coborn’s in November; and selling Prime Time gifts cards between Thanksgiving and Christmas with half the money going to JMFSC.
“Our community and the surrounding area have been unbelievably generous with their financial help, labor and their moral support,” said Jan Manolis, director of the JMFSC. “We could not do this work without that help.”
