The 17th annual Lobster and Shrimp Fest is quickly approaching. The Partnership for Children of Wayne County will hold their annual event on September 24th at the Partnership office.
The event has taken place for the last 16 years. Even last year during the pandemic, the staff and the board decided to proceed with the event. Typically, the event has been held in the spring. Last year the decision was made to move the event to September.
“We figured, by September we would be past COVID,” stated Valerie Wallace, PFCW Executive Director.
That was not the case. However, The Partnership decided to try the event since it was a drive-through and everything was pre-ordered. On the day of the event, the workers and cooks masked up and held the event during massive thunderstorms. It was the most successful lobster and shrimp event to date.
The Partnership is required to match state funds. The Lobster and Shrimp Fest is one of two major fundraisers that it holds each year. This fundraiser has become well known throughout the county.
“We have not increased our ticket prices for 17 years,” Wallace shared. “However, this year, we are seeing added costs. Lobster prices have drastically risen. Sales are not as well as we have hoped. We are hopeful that folks will support our efforts and will place an order before the deadline of September 17th.”
All orders have to be pre-placed to get our deliveries here on time. Our lobsters are flown fresh from Maine and our shrimp is purchased from a local distributor. $25.00 will get you a fresh live lobster or cooked or approx. 2 lbs. of cooked or frozen shrimp. For an extra $5.00, we will prepare two ears of corn and a baked potato.
This year, our early childcare community has been hit hard due to COVID. They have had turnovers in the workforce, additional operational costs, and lost enrollment. Childcare workers are overworked and burned out. The Partnership would like to raise funds that could be used to assist sites that may have needs related to COVID. Of course, we will also continue to use funds for our other Partnership efforts focusing on parenting and literacy.
The Partnership for Children of Wayne County provides programming that is evidence-based meaning there is research to back up the work being done.
“Children from birth to five are in the most important developmental period of their lives. The brains are making so many connections. The work being done in early childhood is not babysitting or just playing. If we don’t build a strong foundation for a child, once they get to be school age, they will be playing catch up,” Wallace says. “We want the community to see the value in the work that we do. These children will eventually be our next workforce. If we don’t invest now, it will be too late.”
Tickets for the event may be purchased online at www.pfcw.org or 919-735-3371 ext. 227.
