John Bartus, creator of Presents in Paradise, joined Good Morning Keys on Keys Talk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about the fundraiser.
Presents in Paradise provides all kinds of items to families in need.
Bartus said, “We’ve got two events coming up. The first one is tomorrow, Friday. We’re going to be tomorrow evening, over at Havana Jacks. It’s their Boo Bash annual Halloween costume contest, and they do this every year. For the past several years, they’ve been gracious enough to let us do a fundraiser there, and they’re just an amazing group of people, so come out with your costumes. We’ll have a costume contest. It starts at seven o’clock, and we have some celebrity judges. Starting at seven, get your registration and everything ready to go. Then we’ll also be doing a 50/50 raffle that night. It’s always a fun event to come out. And even if you don’t get into a costume, certainly come out and see everybody else that does, because it’s just, it’s a really good event. The next one is the following Saturday, November 1, at the Elks Lodge, another great supporter of Presents in Paradise. Elks Lodge here in Marathon is doing hosting a spaghetti dinner for us, and the proceeds are going to Presents in Paradise. We are going to have a huge silent auction with a lot of stuff. We’ll be doing another 50/50 raffle, and we’re going to have live entertainment featuring yours truly, but also the great 79th Street Band is going to be playing too. So we’re going to have a really wonderful time with the spaghetti dinner that starts at four o’clock and goes on till about eight, thereabouts. Looking forward to a wonderful time for all concerned. That comes up Saturday, November 1, and that’s over at the Elks Lodge.
Everything raised will go back to helping working families in our county.
Bartus said, “If you live down here, you know what’s going on, it’s hard enough to try to even make a living and try to afford the high cost of rents and everything else. So when the family is just struggling to get by, it makes it real tough when the kids at Christmas time and they see other kids getting good stuff. So that’s what we do, is we provide Christmas to those working families. A lot of times, we don’t do electronic gifts or things like that. Unless it’s something like educational or STEM oriented, we do a lot of bicycles, clothing, clothing products, things like bedding, things like that, that help a family out as well. And the family gets to choose what they want for their kid, and it’s a very much a child driven process. So we try to make sure the family gets what it needs and the kid gets what they want. That’s what we do.”
Presents in Paradise has provided 44,000 gifts in over 20 years of service in our community.
Bartus said, “When you sit there and think about it and add things up over the course of the years, it’s amazing what Presents has been able to do. So if you can’t make either of those events and you still want to be able to help out, the easiest way to do it is to text the word presents to 44321, that’s again, just text the word presents to 44321, and it’ll set you up.”
You can also donate on the website.
Bartus said, “Come out to the events. They’re fun events, and it’s a great way to hang out with your friends that are going to be out there having a good time, and you have a good time for a really good cause.”
The city commission at Key Colony Beach will hopefully award a bid for the City Hall project tomorrow.
Bartus, as city administrator for Key Colony Beach, explained, “We’re looking really forward to being able to do that, get a contractor on board, negotiate a contract, and then finally, get this project underway. That’s the big news over in Key Colony right now.”
For more information on Presents in Paradise, click here: https://www.presents-in-paradise.com