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JAMESTOWN – Family Service of the Chautauqua Region (FSCR) is inviting the community to its annual “Pasta for a Purpose” fundraiser. The event will be held on Friday, Feb. 14 from 6 to 9:30 p.m. at Chautauqua Suites (215 West Lake Rd, Mayville, NY).

The dinner will be catered by Chautauqua Suites and will offer guests a choice of pasta entrees including a variety of pastas, meatballs, chicken Parmesan, and Italian sausage – along with desserts and wine.

Giulia Sowrey of “Star Sirch Productions” will be the live DJ during the evening.

Along with dinner and music, guests will have a chance to bid on items through the event’s silent auction and basket raffle.

The fundraising event will help support children and families in the Chautauqua Region as well as to assist in expanding our House Calls Program which brings mental health services to seniors and others who are unable to leave their homes due to disabilities. All proceeds will assist children and families to obtain counseling services in which they otherwise may not be able to afford.

As a not-for-profit agency, Family Service relies on generous funding from the United Way of Southern Chautauqua County as well as local foundations and individual donations. Family Service also holds an annual fundraiser to help make services more affordable to those who may find their copay and/or large deductible to be a hardship. Attending the Pasta for a Purpose event is a great way to support the mission of FSCR which is to strengthen the mental health and well-being of individuals, families, and our community and at the same time – have a great time.

Tickets are available at $40 dollars per person and can be purchased through Family Service of the Chautauqua Region by calling 716-488-1971 or emailing familyservice@fscr.mygbiz.com. Each ticket includes a chance to win the Grand Prize.

Family Service of the Chautauqua Region utilizes licensed therapists to provide mental health counseling to the Chautauqua region through a variety of programs. These programs include Office Based counseling at our office (332 East 4th street) as well as other offices through our collaboration/partnership with Westfield Family Services and Family Health Medical Services, School Based counseling through our partnership with our local schools (Jamestown Public Schools, Chautauqua Lake, Frewsburg, Randolph, Clymer, and Sherman), House Calls counseling (individual homes), Employee Assistance Program (EAP) currently 36 Chautauqua County agencies), Hispanic Outreach Program (translators for Chautauqua County Mental Hygiene, The Resource Center, and WCA in both the North and South counties) as well as works in partnership with the Jamestown Police Department through Project Crossroads to help victims of domestic abuse find the services they need.

Information provide by Project Crossroads shows policed responded to a total of 1,630 domestic violence calls in 2016— more than any of the previous six years.

Project Crossroads is a domestic violence collaboration between the Jamestown Police Department and Family Services of the Chautauqua Region.

The data shows domestic violence calls in 2016 were up by 8.5 percent compared to 2015, and up by nearly 30 percent since 2013.

Officials said the spike in calls is largely due to better reporting, mostly by victims and even a growing number of children. But they also say that domestic violence doesn’t appear to be slowing down in the city.

The fundraising walk supports the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) by helping support local suicide prevention and awareness programs right here in Chautauqua County. The goal for this year is to raise at least $10,000.

The Jamestown Out of the Darkness Walk is one of the nearly 250 Out of the Darkness Community Walks being held this fall nationwide. The walks are expected to unite more than 100,000 walkers nationally and raise more than $7.5 million for suicide prevention efforts.

The Jamestown community walk will take place at Tracy Plaza, City Hall with registration from 9 to 10 a.m. and the walk beginning around 10:05 a.m.  To register, go to www.outofthedarkness.org and go to the Jamestown walk page.

This walk is being organized by the local suicide awareness and prevention coalition within Chautauqua County called The Community Alliance for Suicide Prevention. The Alliance is made up of members from various organizations such as Chautauqua Tapestry, Chautauqua County Mental Hygiene, Compeer Chautauqua, WCA Hospital, Chautauqua Opportunities, Inc. Mobile Crisis Team, Crisis Services, Hospice Chautauqua County, State University of New York at Fredonia, The Resource Center, New York State Office of Mental Health, Mental Health Association, Early Identification and Recognition Program with Chautauqua County Mental Hygiene, Family Services of the Chautauqua Region, Inc., CASAC, Lutheran, Jamestown Community College, VA of WNY Health Care System and passionate community members.

More details on the Out of the Darkness Walk will be provided Thusday on WRFA when we discuss the event and the effort to raise awareness for suicide prevent during our weekly Community Matters program… which airs at 6pm here on WRFA.

Univera Healthcare wants to help spread the word about WRFA and its role as a center of inspiration to the community. As a result, custom-designed magnetic picture frames have been created by Univera Healthcare so that friends of WRFA could post pictures of whatever inspires them on their refrigerators at home or on their file cabinets at work. Friends of WRFA are also invited to post their inspiring photos on the station’s facebook page at facebook.com/wrfalp.

WRFA will be teaming up with Univera Healthcare for the “What Inspires U?” Campaign. Simply pick up a magnet frame from the station or local participating sponsor and use it to hold an inspiring photo. Here is what it will look like when combined with an inspiring image.

Two-thousand magnetic frames are available at sites around Jamestown. Current participating businesses include:

• Family Service of the Chautauqua Region
• Jamestown & Lakewood area YMCA’s
• Jamestown Convenience Care
• Jamestown Mattress’ Lakewood store
• Jamestown Radiology
• Labyrinth Press Co.
• Peppy Dental
• The Reg Lenna Civic Center
• Ryder’s Cup
• Spectrum Eye Care
• Trinity Guitars
• Shults Auto Group
• White Daisy Boutique & Tie-Dye
• Zahm & Matson Ag & Turf

Additionally, WRFA, Univera Health, The Chautauqua Region Community Foundation, The Arts Council for Chautauqua County and Trinity Guitars have joined together to produce Rolling Hills Radio.Hosted by local singer Ken Hardly, Rolling Hills Radio will combine performance and interviews to both showcase the music and reveal the inspiration behind the work of the regions most talented artists. WRFA will handle all production and provide national syndication of ROLLING HILLS RADIO, the first such local program to be produced for a national market.

Click here for more details about Rolling Hills Radio.