CONWAY — An anonymous person has donated $50,000 to those affected by Saturday’s tornado.
The gift, in the form of a cashier’s check, was dropped into a donation collection can at some point during a benefit dinner held at the Conway Inn Tuesday evening.
“When we were counting out at the end of the evening, we had $2,200 dollars in the can, and found a cashier’s check for $50,000,” said Owner Barbara Llamas. “We made $52,200. We were flabbergasted.”
Llamas said the event, originally booked as a CD release party for local musician Justus Conant and his band, Blue Collar Pirates, turned into a benefit dinner after the tornado. Then, it was posted to social media and “got out of hand.” Far more people than anticipated showed up, and they had to run out for more food, she said.
The mastermind behind the event, Llamas said, was Conant, who’s also a trained chef at the inn. “He’s the one that made the jambalaya, black eyed peas, baked beans — he spent two days cooking,” Llamas said.
“We cooked up a storm, served about 100 people. It was a great event,” said Conway resident Jamie Maloney, who helped cook and attended the benefit.
After the event, the check was given to Conway’s Firemen’s Auxiliary, the organization behind a GoFundMe website set up in response to the community’s desire to donate. For those interested in donating, visit bit.ly/2lZcUB6.
The town has raised a total of more than $70,000 since the tornado.
You can reach Andy Castillo
at: acastillo@recorder.com