Home of Hope staff and volunteers are gearing up for the Heroes Charity Gala and Silent Auction, set for Oct. 27th.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. at the Radisson Hotel. All proceeds will go to support Home of Hope, an international ministry out of the Red Deer-based Home Church.

Home of Hope is a child-focused, church-based, non-profit organization that helps thousands of children and orphans with monthly sponsorship, school, feeding programs, animal projects, helping women to become self-sufficient with micro-loans and much more.

According to their website, the vision is to give hope to those who are hopeless, to help the helpless, to feed the hungry, to mend the sick, and most of all, to show the love of God.

An array of projects and ministries have been launched over the years, including The Boy’s Home of Hope in India which started back in 1982. Additional Home of Hope projects started in Rwanda in 2006, in Kenya in 2010, and most recently in the Congo in 2012.

“This year, we really wanted to hold an exciting fundraising event, to also get our name out into the public more. What better way than to throw a gala,” said Lynzee Berreth, Home of Hope finance and fundraising coordinator. She said that calling the event ‘Heroes’ also honours those with the organization who work so hard overseas to see Home of Hope’s daily mission come to fruition.

That includes rescuing children who have been abandoned and left to die in poverty-stricken communities.

“Our heroes are unique, true, real-life superheroes, and that’s what makes Home of Hope so special and different,” she explained. “Everyone wants to be a part of something that changes a child’s life.

“We train, we empower, and we are really about breaking the cycle of poverty,” she explained. “So we wanted to put an event together that is fun, but also where people can see what the charity is doing through pictures and stories.”

Brian Thomson serves as Home of Hope founder and operations director.

The evening will also feature African dancers and drummers, a photo booth, hors d’oeuvres, desserts plus a message from Thomson.

“People will also see a side of African culture by attending the event.”

Overall, Home of Hope’s work sees some 4,500 kids fed weekly, and since this past January, about 20 children have been rescued. The goal is to rescue 100 every year.

For Berreth, who has worked for Home of Hope for a year and a half, seeing what the organization accomplishes first-hand this past spring through a trip to Rwanda and Kenya was and continues to be life-changing. She also travelled to India with Home of Hope back in 2015.

“I don’t think there was a single day on that two-week trip that I didn’t cry,” she recalled of the journey’s impact. She had the opportunity to work amongst some of the children that Home of Hope has rescued from certain death, and who are now being cared for via Home of Hope’s array of sponsorship programs.

“I also got to help with the feeding programs – to cook and serve the food as well,” she said. “Something as simple as a plate of food – a lot of kids will walk hours and hours to come to the feeding programs. It’s something we take so for granted.

“Your whole perspective just changes – the view of how I live my life. And I think it also just really helped me in my passion for doing what I do. You know you are a part of something that is changing lives there, but it’s also changing your own.

“Also, when I went and saw it firsthand, I had a greater understanding of why Brian Thomson started this 11 years ago, and why his heart is for this.”

Meanwhile, Gala tickets are currently $40 each and will go up to $50 each on Oct. 1st.

For more information or for tickets to the Gala, visit www.homeofhope.ca/gala.