There are a lot of things to do on any given Saturday night in West Palm Beach.  I heard about a special event taking place at the local Eagles Club, (#4219) on Military Road, so I thought I’d stop by to see what it was all about.  For those of you that aren’t familiar with the Eagles, they are a Nation-wide, non-profit fraternal organization that started in Seattle about 125 years ago, and their motto is “people helping people,” because that’s what they do.  After covering over-head and operational costs, all proceeds collected at every Eagle Club is spread around to various charities.

Tonight’s event was to kick off ‘The Annual Sweet Heart Queen’ charity fundraiser series, which is a challenge to see which of the three candidates vying for the title can raise the most for her chosen charity.  The three candidates are Jessica Rheny, who has chosen the ‘Kid’s Cancer Foundation,’ Nancy Green is doing her event for ‘Best Friends,’ which is a surrendered pet shelter, and Bridget Manken who is raising funds for the ‘Special Olympics.’   

It works like this; each candidate does her best to raise funds on her own and in her own way over the course of several weeks.  A bake sale here, a yard sale there; it all adds up.  Each of the candidates also gets to host their own fundraiser event at the Eagles Club, and tonight was Jessica Rheny’s turn; I might add that Jessica was already off to a good start before tonight with several hundred previously raised for her charity.  The Eagle’s Club generously provides the room and use of the kitchen at no charge, so that every dime raised can go directly to the candidates’ charity.

Dinner was prepared on site and served to the roughly 3 dozen guests.  There were raffles for lots of donated prizes including gift baskets, scratch tickets, and several other items; there was a ‘Wheel of Fortune’ and prizes included everything from Jell-O Shots and Free Drinks to surprise packages, and a 50/50 raffle.  There was also a balloon/dart game that was set up, however I chose the route of caution and departed before the darts started flying.  

Jessica is also planning a Car Wash at the site tomorrow at $10.00 per car, and each of them will continue raising funds for their charities until the contest ends on February 16, 2013.  At that time, the candidate that has raised the most will be crowned ‘Valentine Queen.’ 

Over the next several weeks leading up to the close, Nancy Green and Bridget Manken will have their chance to fill the house and raise much needed donations.  In the end, no matter which of these fine young ladies takes the Crown, they are all winners, and their selected charities will certainly attest to that. 

While gathering my information I had a chance to meet and chat with some of the regulars; Pat Crocker, Deana and Brian Gettig, Bill Van Campen, Tammy Corselli, and a number of others.  Every one of them just real, down to earth people, doing their best to help each other; the kind of people that anyone would want as their next door neighbor, and it made for a very pleasant evening for this reporter and everyone present.