Fourth annual Raise the Booty raises $50K for Partnership for Children of Johnston County

By Randy Capps | Photos courtesy of Partnership for Children of Johnston County

SMITHFIELD — It’s not unusual to see the parking lot at the Country Club of Johnston County full on an early March Saturday night. It’s also fairly commonplace to see those people gathered for a fundraiser in support of one of the many worthy causes in the community.

Once inside, however, any notion of the Partnership for Children of Johnston County’s Raise the Booty event being a run-of-the-mill fundraiser vanished quicker than the desserts from the long table on the front wall.

There were auctioneers dressed as pirates, a photo area, complete with hats, eye patches and spy glasses, silent auctions and much more energetic live ones near the end of the festivities.

“Raise the Booty was fantastic,” Christina Peterson, community engagement and outreach coordinator, said. “It was our highest grossing fundraiser yet. Huge community support and a lot of fun.”

The event raised more than $58,000. This includes almost $18,000 that will go toward funding Story Walks for the Partnership for Children Park and other parks around the county.

“Our fund the need was extremely powerful,” Peterson said. “We had a lot of support for the Partnership for Children Park, and early literacy is our main focus of that event. All of the money raised from Raise the Booty goes to support literacy efforts in Johnston County. Because the Partnership isn’t funded for that through Smart Start, so we have to raise funds to do that kind of stuff.”

A presentation by Owen Daughtry, author of “Different But Special,” was a big part of that fundraising success.

“I had goosebumps, and I had some tears,” Peterson said. “To really know that people are that invested in the work that we do daily just really reinforces why we do what we do here — why I love working for the Partnership. We’re making a difference in families’ lives every single day, and to have Owen come and share his experience and his love for literacy with everybody else, and for people, one after another, to start donating so that other kids in the county can have those experiences as well is very heartwarming. It’s humbling, too, at the same time.”

This year’s Raise the Booty was the fourth one, and each has been bigger than the last.

“It’s becoming more well known, for sure,” Peterson said. “And I think people are starting to understand more about what the partnership does throughout the county.”

One of the organization’s primary goals is to put children in the best possible position to succeed.

“A child’s mind is like a computer or a sponge,” Partnership for Children of Johnston County Executive Director Dwight Morris told Johnston Now in a July 2019 article. “It’s there, ready for input. So, whatever that child gets in the early stage or in the beginning is how it’s going to function. All the software is critical. All the right environments, all the right educational opportunities, critical thinking, learning opportunities — all of those things play into what kind of computer it’s going to be and how it functions when that child gets to the next stage, to school. Our mission is three-fold: education, health and family.”

As it turns out, it was the work of other partnerships that helped spark the idea for this kind of fundraiser.

“We got really lucky,” she said. “There are some other partnerships throughout the state who were doing this type of auction event with Michael Parker Benefit Auctions, and that’s what they do. Specifically, fundraising for benefit auctions. ... He really helps us a lot with different ideas for the games, having it be themed — it’s not like any auction you’ve ever been to.”

It takes a small army of volunteers and staffers to make an event like this happen. That includes Dwight Morris, President of the Partnership for Children of Johnston County, cutting quite the swashbuckling figure in his own buccaneer costume.

“Dwight loves to be the pirate,” Peterson said. “He loves to get out there. It’s just not his thing to sit back in the office and not be involved.”

The Partnership for Children of Johnston County’s mission never stops, and the organization is always on the lookout for volunteers for events like Raise the Booty or for work in the Partnership for Children Park. In addition, monetary donations, or donations of used books, are also welcome. To learn more about the 2019 Johnston Now Honors Nonprofit of the Year, visit www. partnershipforchildrenjoco.org.