OCEAN CITY – A new twist in the annual Believe in Tomorrow Children’s Foundation fundraiser is allowing area businesses to participate in the prom-themed event.
Though the foundation’s annual Prom Night isn’t until February, the fundraising that precedes the event is already underway. For the first time, businesses instead of individuals will make up the prom court.
“Instead of five girls and five boys, we’re going to do business versus business,” said Wayne Littleton of Believe in Tomorrow Children’s Foundation.
Littleton says eight businesses have agreed to participate so far and he’s looking for two more. In the past, when individuals have been the focus of the fundraiser, they’ve been tasked with collecting donations. A $1 donation counts as one vote. The male and female who raise the most money are crowned prom king and queen at the February gala.
Because businesses are tasked with the fundraising this year, Littleton said it made sense to start the process earlier.
“I knew if we were going to do businesses we needed to kick it off in the summer time,” he said.
He added that if the businesses did their fundraising events during the offseason, locals alone would be tasked with raising money.
Littleton says participating businesses can raise money however they choose. The 28th Street Pit and Pub, for example, will be offering free pancake breakfasts — in exchange for a donation — on certain days throughout the summer.
“A lot of them will get more creative as they go,” Littleton said. “It’ll be my job to keep them all motivated.”
The money raised by the prom court will go toward refurbishing the house the Believe in Tomorrow Children’s Foundation recently purchased on 65th Street.
“We’d been watching it for two years and we bought it at a foreclosure auction,” Littleton said.
The organization hopes to have it open for families next year. With the addition of the new house, the foundation will be able to place seven families at a time in the area.
Littleton is optimistic that this year’s fundraiser will be just as successful as the prom events in years past. Last year’s fundraiser generated $80,000.
“It’s a great event,” Littleton said. “If you’d told me five years ago people would want to relive their prom I’d have laughed. But it’s so much fun.”
The foundation has been a leader in pediatric hospital and respite housing services for sick children and their families.
