‘Celebrity waiter goes duck hunting’
The seventh annual Evergreen Celebrity Waiter Dinner and Silent Auction will take advantage of the popularity of television’s “Duck Dynasty” when it is held May 9 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Bossier City.
Debbie Orand is the director of development at Evergreen Life Services. She said the Biedenharn Foundation will be the presenting sponsor for this year’s dinner. She said, “This year, we decided on the theme of ‘Celebrity Waiter Goes Duck Hunting.’ We just thought that would be a really fun type of north Louisiana-type theme. The dress for the event in camofabulous.” Special guest for the evening will be “Duck Dynasty’s” John Godwin.
Orand said the event is to raise money and awareness for Evergreen Life Services. The group’s vision statement says, “Helping individuals live the lives they choose.”
The group advocates for individuals with disabilities to be able to remain in their home communities, human and civil rights, and spiritual growth. Formerly known as Evergreen Presbyterian Ministries, the organization started in the community of Evergreen after the local school closed and a group of parents banded together to provide a summer camp experience for their special needs children. In 1959, a Presbyterian minister, a handful of staff and four young men who had both developmental and intellectual disabilities moved to that abandoned schoolhouse. Evergreen has since grown to serve more than 1,300 individuals in seven states: Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Kentucky and Florida.
The website includes a list of values and beliefs, among which is a commitment to ensuring people and their families have a wide variety of experiences in order to make truly informed choices.
“We serve and support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities,” Orand said. Individuals with a broad spectrum of conditions from children to adults can take advantage of the organization’s services, she said. “From Down syndrome and autism all the way to Alzheimer’s, we have all of the ages. The money raised stays right here in North Louisiana.”
Orand said the group sponsors community homes as well as independent living options. It also offers job training, job placement and a special creativity program at their Cultural Arts Center.
There are several levels of sponsorship still available for businesses and individuals that are explained on the organization’s website, www.evergreenls.org
Orand said Godwin will take part in a meet and greet before the main program begins, as well as speak to the group that evening.
Various items from local businesses will be on the block during the silent and live auction portions of the evening. Doug Warmer will be the event emcee and Ben Dance will be the auctioneer. Orand said Evergreen will present a video feature explaining its mission, and there will be music from The Mix and dancing to follow.
Last year, according to Orand, a jar of nothing helped raise enough money to provide computers for the facility. “We auctioned off a jar of hope, Just a Mason® jar of air. It was to buy iPads. We ended up raising like $12,000,” she said.
Some of the celebrity waiters scheduled to attend are: Emily Black of KSLA, Shreveport City Marshall Charlie Caldwell, Bossier Parish sheriff’s Lt. Bill Davis, Caddo Sheriff’s Safety Town’s Richard Corbett, Jim Grant and Keith Plunkett with the Iron Spartans Motorcycle Club, and Carly Morgan of KTBS.
Orand said the celebrities would not actually be serving the food, only waiting on the tables. She noted the heavy representation of local law enforcement and admitted there would be little chance of rowdy behavior at this year’s event. “We have such support from the police and sheriff’s departments. I love those guys. This is such a joy working with them.”
The organization offers a wide range of community-based services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, according to the website.
Those programs are designed to meet basic needs, as well as teach the skills necessary for participants to realize their potential.
The programs are individualized to fit the needs of each client.
Program participants get support in their vocational efforts and make their own daily life decisions. “All of Evergreen’s efforts are designed to help people with developmental disabilities become a contributing, participating ‘part of society’ rather than living ‘apart from society,” according to the site.
– Joe Todaro
