Throughout 2015 Destination South Meetings + Events contributed to many events that gave back to our community. However, the one that got us most into the holiday spirit of ‘giving’ was the 3^rd Annual SERV Ball. Hosted this year at The Biltmore Ballrooms, the annual fundraiser event sold out in advance with a record 270+ people attending! Guests enjoyed a seated dinner catered by Bold American Catering with Executive Chef Todd Annis overseeing every detail of the event’s menu. There was also a silent and live auction, and entertainment that included Spain’s very own Victoria Canal and Atlanta musician Chinua Hawk & Friends in a special Christmas concert.

The SERV Ball is the largest fundraiser of the year for SERV International – an organization committed to helping families in need. The money raised each year at the SERV Ball helps to provide food, water, shelter and life for individuals in the Dominican Republic and Kenya. Feeding people is SERV International’s largest platform program. Each meal under their program is a dehydrated food product that consists of potatoes, carrots, kale and rice which equates to 650 calories and comes with an additional protein and vitamin packet. SERV International has distributed over 10 million of these meals in Kenya and over 1 million meals in the Dominican Republic!

For this year’s fundraiser we were proud to have Destination South’s Taylor Rhodes join the event’s planning committee. Taylor’s expertise backed by Destination South’s resources most certainly contributed to taking the event in its third year to a new level. In 2014 SERV Ball attendees raised enough funding to drill a new well in the desert of Kenya, sponsor 6 more children at SERV International’s House of Hope, provide over 100 new water filter buckets in the Dominican Republic and feed tens of thousands globally. With record attendance and fundraising for this year’s ‘Orange Tie Affair’ Ball the organization expects to accomplish:

• Building two new House of Hope dormitories
• Sponsoring four new House of Hope children
• Making the dream of a new vehicle for House of Hope a reality
• Giving 100+ new SERV water filtration buckets to those in need in the Dominican Republic
• Feeding tens of thousands globally!

We are excited to share that this year’s event was so successful and special that sponsors are already signing up to contribute for next year. Having Taylor contribute to the success of this event that will touch so many lives in 2016 makes the Destination South team very proud!

Images shared in this blog from the event are available at David Scruggs Photography!
Note, at the top of each gallery page are sections for Guests, The Wall, Entertainment, etc. Proceeds from all purchased photos will benefit SERV!

ABOUT SERV INTERNATIONAL
SERV International is an organization all about giving people the opportunity to make a difference. In May of 2000, SERV began building outreach centers, churches and meeting spaces in Mexico. Over time, SERV has expanded into the Dominican Republic, continuing to give supporters the opportunity to make a difference through outreach projects and mission trips. In 2006, SERV’s founder Steve Kasha and another team member were on a plane to Africa for the very first time. Little did they know that in the coming years, SERV would open an orphanage that would become home to more than 40 children in the northwest corner of Kenya. In response to the region’s famine and drought, SERV has also started a large-scale feeding program that has now distributed over 10 million meals in Kenya – called SERV FOOD. Learn more about this organization making change for good around the world by visiting them online at www.servone.org.