Mental Health America of Aiken County (MHAAC) held its second annual “Aiken Black Tie Human Bingo” event at Woodside Country Club. This charity event was a fundraiser for mental health support with a focus on suicide prevention.
All tickets for the event are sold out.
Amy Pateja, Mental Health of America Aiken County Board of Directors, announced the start of the first round of bingo.
In three rounds of human bingo, participants played the role of bingo chips on a large playmat. Prizes for players who hit the victory line include a long weekend trip to Lake Murray, a week-long trip to Hilton Head, and a gift card valued at approximately $1,500 from downtown businesses. Aiken included his basket.
Attendees also had the opportunity to purchase raffle tickets for various prizes to be awarded at the end of the night, including a gift basket by Floyd and Greene Jewelers and tickets to an upcoming Clemson football game.
MHAAC Board Member Amy Pateja said funds raised during the event will go toward suicide prevention and family support.
“When you have one person in your family who commits suicide, you're more likely to have someone else commit suicide,” she says. “There aren't a lot of support groups out there for people who have gone through that kind of experience, so we're trying to incorporate that.”
“Last year we did a lot of education and brought things into the schools,” said Pam Fischbach, vice chair of the MHAAC board of directors, who is a close friend of Pateja's.
The 2023 fundraiser raised $80,000 to help provide mental health awareness programs to local schools and update the MAAHC Suicide Hotline.
“Part of our funding will go toward training new personnel for the hotline,” Pateja said of the 24-hour field manned telephone program. “So people don't have to call the national hotline. If they're in the Aiken country, they can call our hotline.”
Pateja said the money raised will also be used to support mental health support for police officers and first responders. “They see all kinds of things in their work, but they don’t really have a way to solve this,” she said.
Proceeds from Saturday night's event are still being calculated.
