Mission House of Jacksonville Beach hosted its annual Compassion by the Sea fundraiser Thursday, Sept. 27 to support the homeless of Jacksonville’s Beaches community.
“This is our only large event of the year,” said Lori Delgado Anderson, executive director of Mission House. “We try to raise $50,000, that’s always our goal, but last year we raised almost $70,000.”
Held at the Casa Marina Hotel in Jacksonville Beach, the packed event featured food, live music performed by local band Cloud 9 and dozens of donated auction items up for grabs, drawing attendees from all over the Greater Jacksonville area.
“The community just comes out and really supports us,” Anderson said. “They tell me it’s the best party of the year, that we have the best silent auction items, the greatest band … and we do this all because it supports our mission of getting the homeless in the Beaches area off the streets and into housing. That’s our No. 1 goal, and as of right now, we got 73 men and women off the streets this year, so we’re hopefully going to surpass our number last year, which was 94.”
Preliminary estimates for funds raised at the event amounted to more than $70,000, which will benefit Mission House’s various outreach initiatives.
“It’s a great community event,” Anderson said, “and we appreciate everyone who sponsors us and helps us with this event, because it’s really important.”
