After last year’s hiatus, Birthright of Odessa will get to have its annual fundraising event return.
This year’s event is scheduled at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 27 at the Odessa Marriott.
Birthright exists to help anyone who may be pregnant and concerned about their situation.
“We’re a crisis pregnancy center,” Co-director at Birthright of Odessa Alissa Copley said. “This is one of the main ways that we get funds to operate the office here. We have girls who are in crisis pregnancy and get a free pregnancy test and have someone to talk through their fears and try to figure out what their next step is. The fundraiser helps us to be able to provide that to them free of charge.”
Last year’s event was canceled due to COVID.
Birthright Odessa is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Mondays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday.
The annual fundraiser is the primary fundraiser for Birthright Odessa.
“We really just do this one fundraiser and then we get donations from different churches and different families and individuals,” Copley said. “This is our big fundraiser.”
Birthright Odessa is a part of Birthright International.
Birthright Odessa has been around for almost 38 years with its anniversary coming up on April 2.
While Director of Birthright Odessa Mary Holley is happy to have this year’s fundraiser back, she’s hoping that nothing derails it as far as COVID cases.
“It’s a little scary, honestly,” Holley said. “But we actually planned (the fundraiser) and committed to it when COVID had died down. Recently, it’s popped up but, Lord willing, we’ll be able to have this event. We’re taking precautions and the Marriott is taking precautions. We’re having eight people at a table instead of 10. The tables will be farther apart and we’re hoping that a lot of people will be wearing masks until they get to their tables. Birthright is such a positive organization that we just want to keep going. … We keep our offices open and take a lot of precautions.”
This year’s guest speaker at the fundraiser will be Midland author Amy Cravey.
Cravey is a long-time volunteer of Birthright.
“Amy Cravey has been involved with birthright for several years,” Holley said. “She has branched out and has written a book. … She’s been involved with Birthright for many years. She’s actually a part of our board. In the past, we’ve had speakers from different parts of the country. We felt like this year, this is what we were supposed to do. Amy speaks at different places and we wanted to give her the opportunity to share what she has on her heart with the Birthright people who support us and are interested in this ministry.”
Cravey’s book is titled “Who are You?”
“It is a children’s book on identity in Christ,” Cravey said.
Cravey said she’s honored to be this year’s guest speaker.
“I was absolutely thrilled and surprised when they asked me to speak,” Cravey said. “I have been the chairperson of the event for three or four years and have really loved working in that capacity and this year, I felt like I was supposed to step out of that role and it was about three or four months after that when I got the call and the Birthright board asked me to speak. I was definitely surprised and I’m very excited to be able to speak at the event.”
If you go
- What: Birthright Odessa Annual Fundraiser.
- When: 6:30 p.m. Jan. 27.
- Where: Odessa Marriott Hotel and Conference Center.
- Where to purchase tickets: tinyurl.com/2scavjtw
