Hope’s Place Chocolate Extravaganza Needs Your Help
Sasha Bush
Ashland Beacon
Hope’s Place Child Advocacy Center is a child-friendly place where victims of sexual abuse and their families can receive services from a team of professionals. These service providers include specially trained physicians, mental health professionals, victim advocates, child protective service workers and law enforcement. All these professionals work together to bring the sexual abuse investigation to a successful conclusion and lessen the trauma experienced by the victim and their family. Hope’s Place Child Advocacy Center is always going the extra mile to make sure that the needs of everyone who might need their services can do so. One way Hope’s Place is able to accomplish this is by fundraising. Fundraising is vital to Hope’s Place and all that they do for this community. It’s about that time of year again for one of Hope’s Place most highly anticipated events of the year… its annual CHOCOLATE EXTRAVAGANZA.
The event first came about when a few board members and a couple employees needed an event to raise awareness and funds for a brand-new Child Advocacy Center (Hope’s Place). In 1998, Hope’s Place had two full-time employees and a part-time employee with an annual operating budget of around $50,000 (barely enough to cover basic salaries for the full-time employees.) Today, Hope’s Place has 13 full-time employees and two part-time employees. At the time, the Chocolate Extravaganza was a unique idea and the perfect way to educate community partners and community members about Child Advocacy Centers and to raise a little money at the same time.
Executive Director of Hope’s Place Child Advocacy Center, Lisa Phelps, shared with us just what this Chocolate Extravaganza is all about: “Individuals, corporations, and local businesses will make Easter baskets and donate them to Hope’s Place to sell at a chocolate tasting event. At the event, local chocolate vendors donate chocolate samples for Hope’s Place to sell tickets to the public for them to sample the treats. Now, 25 years later and literally almost 10,000 chocolate tasting treats and over 5,000 Easter baskets, Chocolate Extravaganza is a premiere event that engages hundreds of community partners and community members. We promote awareness about child abuse and the free services available at Child Advocacy Centers while selling donated chocolate treats and donated Easter Baskets to fund services for children and families in our communities. This event brings agencies and community members together for the greater good of children and families, which benefits everyone. We get to know other agencies and the services they have to offer, and we get to know local children and families who might need the services we offer. It is also a great way to get Easter baskets at a great price while helping others!”
“People can help by making and donating baskets. We ask people to make a basket, attach a list of items in the basket and the approximate value. It is helpful if the basket is wrapped in cellophane and ready to be sold. Baskets of any value $5-$250 are welcomed. Themed baskets sell especially well, for example, Paw Patrol baskets, Barbie baskets, movie night baskets, self-care baskets, outdoor fun baskets, baking Fun baskets, etc. We also welcome volunteers to help at The Ashland Town Center on the day of the event with setup, cleanup and working the event. Volunteers need to pre-register by emailing
Thank you to the wonderful community we live in and their willingness to step up to any challenge. Hope’s Place has been able to raise close to $175 thousand over the years. That money has gone directly to providing trauma treatment services to child survivors of physical and sexual abuse. Each year is a new experience, and each year we meet new people to build partnerships to support children and families. Phelps added, “We are so blessed that our communities have embraced this event and our center so we can continue to offer free counseling services, specialized medical exams, and advocacy services to children and families. Thank you for your time and interest in Hope’s Place CAC!”
Hope's Place Child Advocacy Center serves Boyd, Carter, Elliot, Greenup, and Lawrence counties in Kentucky as well as surrounding counties in Ohio and West Virginia. If you or someone you know could benefit from the services that Hope’s Place has to offer, you can reach out to them at www.hopesplace.org. You can also call at 606.325.4737 or by calling their toll-free number at 866.325.4737.