Lafayette Oxford Foundation for Tomorrow will host its 6th Annual LOFT Night for Nonprofits at the Old Armory Pavilion beginning at 6 p.m. Thursday with more than 20 groups participating.

Night for Nonprofits is a chance for the community to give to local nonprofits in Lafayette County and Oxford. 

Tickets are $15 for adults and include a catfish dinner sponsored by Jack Perkins and Delta Pride. Children will be allowed free admission unless parents and guardians want to buy them a $5 children’s plate. Tickets can be purchased at www.oxfordarts.com/nightfornonprofits or at the door.

Entertainment, sponsored by Delta Dental, will be provided by Justin Kirk & Company.

Joseph “Jody” Holland has been executive director of LOFT for seven years and is happy to get LOFT Night for Nonprofits back on track for it’s sixth year after it went virtual last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. LOFT nonprofits promoted their organization through short videos and each view was considered a vote. The video with the most views earned the nonprofit $1,000 grant.

“We still raised money and it was successful but this year we’re revamping it,” said Holland. The event is typically held at the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council, but will be held at the Old Armory Pavilion instead to adhere to social distancing guidelines.

“We have the largest showcase of nonprofits since the event started.”

The event includes 23 nonprofits from Lafayette County and Oxford community, and participants will compete to see which organizations can receive the most votes through ticket purchases. A few of the participating organizations are Doors of Hope, Holding Hands Resale Shop, Medical Ministries and the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council.

Audience participation is key to the success of this event. The tickets are not just a formality, they allow you to vote for a winner.

There will be ballot boxes on each nonprofits organization’s table and attendees can submit their ticket to a nonprofit of their choosing. The nonprofit with the most tickets will receive a $2,500 grant.

LOFT focuses on social services and helping the community and Holland highlighted how one of their organizations, Coats for Kids, gave out over 200 coats to kids in low-income families during the winter and 

Holland says LOFT has three goals they want to achieve through Night for Nonprofits.

“First, we wanted the nonprofits to network among themselves and learn how to potentially share resources,” he said. “Second, we wanted to have an event that would showcase nonprofits’ good works to the community and, third, we wanted a signature event where we could give our money out.”

LOFT awards grant money through its endowment fund and, for this year’s event, LOFT will present 23 local nonprofits with $30,000 in grant money.

Holland said he and LOFT have seen the positive impact their organization has had on the community by sponsoring events like Night for Nonprofit.

“We can’t fund every nonprofit or every request, but we have seen community members come in through this event and really have a connection with nonprofits and helping them with their projects,” said Holland. “People have paid out of pocket for a project they thought was impactful. Also, we’ve seen an increase in volunteerism due to this event. People have come to the event and they’ve connected to an organization and got involved.”

For more information on LOFT, sponsorships or how to donate, visit www.loftms.org.