Power of the Purse

A familiar Wabash Valley event is revamping its program and location – while still holding true to the overall message and fundraising beneficiary.

This year’s Power of the Purse, an event by the United Way of the Wabash Valley in support of their Success By 6 impact council, will relocate from the Hulman Center, to the Sycamore Winery. With Hulman Center under renovations, United Way organizers, along with event co-chairs Kristin Craig and Katie Shane of the Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce, looked for a new venue to accommodate a large audience of community members. The traditional luncheon was also pushed to later in the afternoon, 3-5:30pm, in hopes of accommodating more teachers and school administrators that haven’t been able to attend in the past.

While the event’s location is changing, many of the traditions of the event will continue. Organizers say attendees can expect delicious offerings from more than a dozen of local restaurants. Attendees, which are primarily women in the community (but not limited to just women) will also be treated to music by Don Morris.

The event’s marquee attraction, shopping, will continue to be a large component – with a few changes. Instead of a live auction and basket raffle, the event steering committee opted for a larger purse package raffle with contributions from local organizations. Each raffle package will feature a purse, stuffed with everything from massage gift certificates to an Apple watch. Contributing organizations include Rose-Hulman, Indiana State University Center for Community Engagement, Altrusa of Terre Haute, the Vigo County School Corporation, Wright’s Pool Service, Elanco, Novelis, RJL Solutions, the Indiana Small Business Development Center, Ivy Tech Community College, John Plasse for Sheriff and Coldwell Banker: Troy Helman Realtors.

Organizers of the event, which started in 2004, say the longstanding fundraiser was due for some changes to keep things fresh and exciting. The mission, to raise funds for Success by Six, continues to be the overall goal. Success by Six promotes healthy early childhood learning in order to prepare children to enter school ready to succeed. Some of their programs include the Real Men Read and Read United and they helped to bring On My Way Pre-K to our community, among many other great programs and resources for the future of our community, the children.

Tickets for the 2018 Power of the Purse can be purchased at powerofthepurse4kids.org or by calling 812-235-6287.

Katie Shane is the Director of Member Engagement for the Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce.