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Parent to Parent to Hold ‘A Starry, Starry Night’ Silver Anniversary Dinner June 16 to Benefit Local Families

May 29, 2012. To celebrate its 25th year of operation and its director, Parent to Parent Family Support Network will host a dinner titled “A Starry, Starry Night, the Silver Anniversary of Parent to Parent FSN-HC.” The event will be held on June 16 from 6-9 p.m. in Holy Cross Episcopal Church’s Skiles Hall in Valle Crucis.

A donation of $50 per person will include the evening’s gourmet dinner and entertainment. The menu will include beef bourguignon, salmon with amaretto cream sauce and vegetarian options. The food will be prepared by Earl LeClaire, a cookbook author and poet who will also be performing at the event. Additional entertainment will be provided by musicians Harold McKinney and Ken Lurie.

The celebration will be hosted by Douglas Galke and Mary Williams, co-founders of Parent to Parent Family Support Network. Galke is the former director of the Children’s Development Services Agency of the Blue Ridge and Williams was the first director of Parent to Parent FSN-HC. The Wilkes Health Foundation will help sponsor the event.

The banquet will honor Kaaren Hayes, the director of Parent to Parent FSN-HC, who was the first hired staff member when the program began in 1988.

“The people who believe in the program have made it work and got it started in the first place,” Hayes said. “I’ve been able to work with wonderful and passionate staff that have backgrounds with special needs children.”

Parent to Parent provides support and free services to families that have children with special needs. Their services include support groups, educational workshops and emotional support provided by trained volunteers. Last year, Parent to Parent made contact with 706 families, conducted 12 free workshops, held 45 events, and had 45 support group meetings with 221 adults and 58 children attending.

Parent to Parent High Country Family Support Network serves a seven county area, providing free and confidential services in Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Mitchell, Watauga, Wilkes and Yancey counties. An affiliate of the Family Support Network of North Carolina, Parent to Parent High Country Support Network is sponsored locally by Appalachian State University and the Children’s Developmental Services Agency of the Blue Ridge. 

Funds raised from this event, which also count toward the university’s Campaign for Appalachian, will be used to help ensure that Parent to Parent will be able to continue to provide support and information for families who have children with special needs.

To make a donation for the anniversary celebration or for more information about the organization, visit www.parent2parent.appstate.edu. or call the Boone office at 828-262-6089.