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PROC Foundation to host Derby Day Party fundraiser May 7

4/21/2022, 6 p.m.
A huge tent will rise on the football field at the Bon Secours Training Camp for the return of the ...

A huge tent will rise on the football field at the Bon Secours Training Camp for the return of the Derby Day Party, it has been announced.

The Kentucky Derby is held on the first Saturday in May, and a Richmond-based foundation, Professionals Reaching Out to the Community, or PROC Foundation Inc., has regularly offered a social event where participants sport fashions, meet-and-greet and view the race.

This year’s event will be held 4 to 9 p.m. Saturday, May 7, and will feature outdoor games, hors d’oeuvres and a cigar lounge on the outdoor field at 2401 W. Leigh St, said co-chairs Natalie Smith and Janet Hawkes Pleasants. Entertainment is to include DJ Lonnie B and live music. Kelli Lemon, owner of Urban Hang Suite café in Downtown and video operations manager for The Times-Dispatch, will emcee the event.

The party has regularly attracted hundreds of people, with this year expected to be no exception. PROC has made 550 tickets avail- able for the event that is returning after a two-year hiatus because of the pandemic.

Nearly 300 general admissions tickets are still available, Ms. Smith said Monday. The cost: $60 per person. Tickets may be purchased online through Eventbrite or from AnoMa Beauty Supply, 1625 Hull St. in South Side.

The event is a fundraiser for the PROC Foundation, which was started 25 years ago by area members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and is now an independent nonprofit.

Overseen by a 24-member board led by Carolyn B. Walker, PROC raises money to support scholarships and community programs, such as spring and winter events for seniors and seminars for teens. The foundation also presents The Beautillion, a program that provides social etiquette classes and leadership training for young men in high school and presents the students to society in a black-tie ball.