By Davy James, Staff Writer
The South Brunswick Family YMCA will bring a taste of Bollywood to the township at its 10th-annual gala celebration to raise money for the Strong Kids Annual Fund.
The money raised helps to provide YMCA scholarships to families in need of financial aid to take advantage of the YMCA’s numerous programs.
”This is one of the fundraisers the Y holds during the course of the year to provide financial assistance to the less fortunate and to cover operational costs and programming,” said Executive Director Tom Libassi. “With the change in the economy over the last couple of years, we have had significant increases in requests for financial aid, and support for this event goes a long way towards making the Y available for everyone.”
The event, called “Bollywood Comes West,” will feature dinner, dancing, live entertainment, auctions and more. Bollywood actress and classical Indian dancer Archana Joglekar will perform along with musical group Hidden Gems and the Bollywood group Infinity.
”We’re going to be mixing Bollywood with a Hollywood environment,” Mr. Libassi said. “We want people to think about dressing up toward the theme. Some people have talked about dressing in saris, and some people are talking about dressing up as a famous Hollywood actor or actress.”
The auctions will feature items valued at more than $9,000, including a 32-inch LCD TV and Blue Ray DVD player, an outdoor bistro table, a six-month YMCA membership, gift certificates, sports tickets and more.
The event will be held May 14 at Chutney Manor beginning at 6:30 p.m. and ending between 9:30 and 10 p.m. Tickets are $55 each, $99 per couple or $350 for a table of eight.
The event is open to the general public. All tickets include three hours of open bar.
The deadline for reservations is May 11. To make a reservation, visit www.southbrunswickymca.org or call 732-329-1150, ext. 200.
