The Fairhope Yacht Club hosted the 14th-annual Cup Regatta as a fundraiser for Children's Hospital of Alabama.
Kerrie Benson, local coordinator for Children's, said she is "allergic to stuffy, …
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The Fairhope Yacht Club hosted the 14th-annual Cup Regatta as a fundraiser for Children's Hospital of Alabama.
Kerrie Benson, local coordinator for Children's, said she is "allergic to stuffy, boring fundraisers" and puts on this event as something "open to everybody" and not just yacht club members.
"We wanted to have something for everybody to enjoy, so it kind of grew to have a bunch of kids activities, lots of games for them to do," Benson said.
For adult attendees, a tiki bar with "the best mudslides ever" and an all-day silent auction. Barbecue plates were for sale, and a band played throughout the event. All of the money raised in the event went to Children's of Alabama.
Benson said 2000 Children's patient visits last year were from Baldwin and Mobile counties. She said people "came out of the woodwork" to raise money for the "kids down here" during the first years of the regatta.
"I worked for Children's in Birmingham, and when I moved to Mobile they were like 'you know what, we see so many patients down there, let's just open up that area for fundraising too,'" Benson said.
Starting at 9 a.m. with a sailor registry, about 50 boats participated in the sailboat races and several participated in the "Cruisers Crawl," which was open to all boats from a motorboat to a kayak.
Benson encouraged people to come to next year's event at the same location for their 15th anniversary.
With community members from all around, she said "no one met a stranger." She mentioned the other yacht clubs around the bay also participate and support events like the regatta.
"It's all sort of a big group effort, there's not a competition when it comes to raising money for kids," Benson said.