By Naeisha Rose
“Party with a Purpose,” is the name of the sixth annual Jamaica Ball, which will usher in the 10th anniversary celebration of the cultural non-profit A Better Jamaica.
The party will take place at the Jamaica Performing Arts Center this Saturday from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. at 153-10 Jamaica Ave. Founder Greg Mays will be hosting the ball that was created to help support other nonprofits in the area.
“Basically, I guess way back in 2012 [A Better Jamaica’s] fifth anniversary was fast approaching,” Mays said. “I didn’t think we had enough friends to throw a big old party on our own, so I looked to our mission, which is to engage in activities that strengthen Jamaica and I said, ‘How can I strengthen Jamaica and have a party?’ Let me invite other non-profits and see if they participate, and the Jamaica ball was born.”
Tickets for the event are $60 and guests can choose whether they want to donate money towards ABJ or the other 17 organizations listed on event
The fellow nonprofits include Association of Women Construction Workers of America, Alted, Braata Productions, Caribbean American Repertory Theatre, Cultural Collaborative Jamaica, Fathers Alive In The Hood, Jamaica Arts Council, Jamaica YMCA, Lupus Connection, Order of The Feather, Queens Community PTSA, Spring-Gar Community Civic Association, St. Albans Lions Club, Venture House, and Volunteers for Springfield Park.
Sponsoring the event are the Greater Jamaica Development Corp., Resorts World Casino NYC and Jetblue.
Providing food is RCL Enterprise, which is located on Rockaway Boulevard.
“We do Southern cuisine, like ribs, fried chicken, collared greens, oxtails, peas and rice, Mac and Cheese,” said RCL Manager Cynthia Campbell. “We do West Indian food like jerk chicken.”
The DJ for the night will be Otis Brown of The Brown’s Sounds in Woodbury.
“We play music for the crowd that is there,” Brown said.
He has performed for people ranging from 9 to 90.
“We play trap music, old school soul, line dance music and we will play soca or reggae if a Caribbean crowd walks into the room,” Brown said. “We play just fun music and hand out party favors like hats, noisemakers and lights, but we don’t play any offensive music with curses.”
The new charities at the event include Life Light Street Productions and Project Hope – The New Direction.
He said 90 percent of each ticket will be going directly to the charity that guests choose.
Reach reporter Naeisha Rose by e-mail at nrose
