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Photo submitted / Brookhaven Junior Auxiliary members in Year 1 (Provisional Class) are, front row from left, Erica Kent, Emily Bellipanni, Rachel Powell and Madison Foster; middle row from left, Shayla Edwards, Kayla Martin and Candice Quinn; top row from left, Jessica Malone, Ashton Richardson, Chancey Armstrong and Tiffany Thadison. Not pictured is Sarah Brown.

Photo submitted / Brookhaven Junior Auxiliary members in Year 2 are, front row from left, Mandy Allred, Whitney Clark and Anna Grider; back row from left, Rachel Cochran, Bethany Ballard and Erin Culpepper.

Photo submitted / Brookhaven Junior Auxiliary members in Year 3 are, front row from left, Chaunci McIntyre, Lindsey Abdalla and Erin King; middle row from left, Jennifer Price and LaToya Butler; back row from left, Mallory Johnson, 2020 Shrimp dinner chairman Tiffany Blackwell and Jillian Ricceri.

Photo submitted / Brookhaven Junior Auxiliary members in Year 4 are, from left, Laura Broxson, Mary Clare Hemleben, Kristina Mason, Paula Welch and Mary Catherine Franklin.

Photo submitted / Brookhaven Junior Auxiliary members in Year 5 are, from left, Stephanie Henderson, Katie Furr and Anne Houston Craig. Not pictured is Ashley Choudoir.

Photo submitted / Brookhaven Junior Auxiliary members in Year 6 are, front row from left, Hannah Laporte, Sheila Sartin and Mary White; back row from left, Amy Ferguson, Candice Moore, Summer Williams and Sarabeth Hall. Not pictured is Lisa Breazeale.

Preparation for the Brookhaven Junior Auxiliary’s “Peel ’Em and Eat ’Em” shrimp dinner fundraiser is underway.

On Oct. 15, the Junior Auxiliary will be set up at the Lincoln Civic Center preparing plates assembly line style to raise money for children’s programs in Lincoln County. This year’s fundraiser is the Junior Auxiliary’s 33rd to host.

“We do this fundraiser as a means to generate funds to help the youth in our community,” 2020 Shrimp dinner chairman Tiffany Blackwell said.

Plates are $15 and come with a pound of boiled shrimp, baked potato salad, corn, crackers and condiments. Pickup will be 3-7 p.m. The fundraiser will be drive-through only, along with a Sweet Shoppe bake sale.

This fundraiser is JA’s biggest of the year, but the organization hosts other projects as well. These include the Wish Tree, Child Welfare, Community Assistance, Crown Club and Special Focus.

Wish Tree provides clothing and toys during Christmas. Child Welfare provides personal support and attention for children and allows them to form supportive relationships with JA members.

Community Assistance helps stock emergency clothes closets and assists families in times of despair.  Crown Club is for 10th and 11th grade girls, which allows them to volunteer with JA. It also provides scholarships to deserving seniors in Lincoln County.

Special Focus provides fun and interactive activities for children with disabilities and their families.

The shrimp dinner is JA’s only fundraiser for the year and provides the funding needed to complete all of their service projects.

Blackwell hopes this year’s fundraiser is a success so JA can continue the work they do.

“(I hope) that we would generate a lot of funds so we can help so many kids in the community,” Blackwell said. “So many families would be helped by the services we provide.”

Brookhaven’s chapter of Junior Auxiliary is a part of Region 5 and was founded in 1954. The chapter currently has 42 active members.

For more information about the shrimp dinner fundraiser, call 601-754-9837.

Story by Gracie Byrne

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