By Woodrow Polston
The Sacred Heart Catholic Church of Vandalia hosted a Basket Bingo on Saturday, Oct. 8, at the Sacred Heart Parish Center located at 800 S Lindell Street. The doors opened at 5 p.m. and games began at 6:30 p.m. A variety of Food and drinks were available, including loaded nachos, sloppy Joes, chips and desserts. Church member Cami Blackman, said that the event would benefit the general operation of the church.
“Our ladies group, the Alter and Rosary Society put this together for the church,” said Blackman. We provide the funeral dinners for families of the church, we do various outreach efforts for the community. We also give to the Agape House and the Ministerial Alliance. We provide assistance to the food pantry and other local programs on a regular basis. So this kind of benefit will help offset those expenses,” she added.
As the tables filled up with those who were anticipating the game that was about to start, others were participating in the silent auction at the front of the hall. Some of the baskets included auction items for car detailing, bath and body products and many other items. Blackman said that this was the first time that the church has done a bingo benefit.
“This is the first one that we have ever done here. In the past we have done a turkey dinner fundraiser on the first weekend of November. We didn’t do anything during the pandemic and so we decided to try something a little different this year. For many years, members of the church would meet here to play bingo on Sunday evenings. The ladies would prepare the food in the kitchen and it was a big deal back in the day. The winner of the black-out game will receive a nice smoker and barbecue grill that was donated,” she added.