Imagine living on a fixed income, barely making ends meet, with nothing to put into savings to cover emergency expenses. What would you do if your refrigerator stopped working, or your furnace, or you had a medical need that you couldn’t afford to cover? This is the situation for hundreds if not thousands of seniors in Central Illinois.

AgeLinc has worked since 1974 to help older adults stay in their homes and remain independent for as long as possible. Unfortunately, living on a fixed income usually doesn’t allow for extra funds to be available in the case of an emergency. Last year, we were inundated with requests for emergency funds to cover rent assistance, help with utilities, groceries, home modifications for ADA accessibility, and devices to address social isolation.

Fortunately, during the height of the pandemic, there were special grant funds available to aid in our ability to help. However, that is not normally the case. We decided that we needed to do something to be proactive about raising funds to be available for these needs. AgeLinc staff decided that fundraising would be essential to raising these funds, and the idea of our Mardi Gras Gala was born.

In 2022, our Gala raised over $11,000 to help seniors in need. Please help us to support our communities by sponsoring our 2^nd Annual Mardi Gras Gala scheduled for February 25, 2023, at the Crowne Plaza in Springfield. Tickets are on sale now. Visit our website at www.agelinc.org. (Go to new/events/Mardi Gras Gala) to purchase tickets. You can rest assured that your dollars will be put to good use.

Thank you for your consideration. Together, we can Make a difference to older and disabled adults, and family caregivers.