Community Comes Together for The Hillius Family
The Fundraiser for the Hillius Family was a great event for a great cause. (Photo: Courtesy of the Hillius Fundraiser)
Mesquite, NV –
The community came together to honor one of their own on the evening of February 10th, 2022 at the Fundraiser in Honor of Gary Hillius. This event took place at Heritage Park from 5-7 pm and was full of attendees the whole night.
In order to raise money to help the Hillius family, dozens of friends and community members came together to put on the event. Mesquite Gaming, US Food, Sysco, John Woods, David Alejos, Danny Allen, Jaime Worthen, and Brandy Christensen, the Mesquite 4th Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, as well as dozens of community members who donated various food and items for the auction made the fundraiser possible. They helped with set up and take down, cooked and served food, and helped with dining and raffle tickets.
The dinner was the main focus of the night, with lines of people out the park gates waiting to get a plate. There was pulled pork, Dutch oven chicken, potatoes, salad, hot dogs, and dessert, all of which were donated and prepared by members of the community. People were hustling in the background to make more food because they kept running out.
Although this was a memorial event, there was so much joy to be had during the evening. Everyone sat around and talked with friends, kids played in the grass and park, and DJ Number Juan kept the night lively with fun music for everyone to enjoy.
Besides the dinner, there was also a silent auction that included items such as tactical gear and play swords and shields for kids donated by Don and Danae Rappelye. And, as advertised, there was a great raffle with tons of items donated by community members. Among some of the prizes were gift baskets, gift certificates, flowers, quilts, and even a brand-new grill donated by Ace Hardware.
There was such an amazing turnout for the event. Krissy Thornton said, “we served 533 food plates [and] ran out of food at the end. We made more [money] than we anticipated.”
All of the proceeds made during this event are going directly to Leora Hillius and her family to help with any financial needs they have.
Krissy stated, “As I looked over the crowd that night, I knew Gary was there and I knew he was smiling and shedding tears because of the amount of people that showed up and opened their hearts.”
If interested in helping out with the Hillius family, all donations can be made through a GoFundMe Fundraising Campaign which has been set up with a goal of raising $10,000 to help with the burial costs and supporting the family during the time. The campaign is titled, “In Loving Memory of Gary Hillius, Jr.” and can be located at https://www.gofundme.com/f/in-loving-memory-of-gary-hillius-jr or clicking the link below.
