Eagles raising funds for wishes

Sahara Aldridge's wish will be highlighted at a fund-raiser dinner theater later this month, as the local Eagles Club raises money for the Missouri Make-A-Wish Foundation to sponsor the wishes of Sahara and other Missouri children battling life-threatening illnesses.

At 5 p.m. March 31 the Eagles will host a mystery dinner theater called "A Fistful of Hollers" at the club hall at 321 N. Spring St. All the proceeds from the dinner go to the Make-A-Wish Foundation as part of the Eagles' statewide fund-raising campaign for the charity.

The Eagles have already raised $135,000 in eight months to benefit Make-A-Wish, and the local Eagles September dinner theater contributed more than $4,000 to the cause, said Eagle Pam Boyd. The group hopes to raise a similar amount at the March 31 event.

Sahara's wish will be one of several sponsored by the statewide Eagles organization, Boyd said. Already 35 wishes have been funded.

The Eagles will use Sahara's example to show how Make-A-Wish affects local people. While the money raised March 31 may not directly go to Sahara's wish, it will go to help the Eagles sponsor more wishes across the state.

The Springfield chapter of the state Make-A-Wish Foundation has 40 pending wishes, including Sahara's, said director of development Heather Fann. The average wish cost is about $4,600, she said, including monetary and in-kind costs.

Tickets for the dinner theater need to be purchased by March 25. For more information, call the Eagles at 335-0931.

-- Matt Sanders