Dixie Foundation hosts annual Fire and Ice Gala to raise scholarship funds
By Hanna Pollock
The 15th annual Fire and Ice Gala will be held March 22 in the M. Anthony Burns Arena at DSU. Supporters can either attend the gala for $200 a person or sponsor an entire table. The Dixie Foundation and Fire and Ice participants have helped thousands of students by giving 100 percent of proceeds to need-based scholarships at DSU.
Fire and Ice gala guests come in black-tie apparel and are entertained and enjoy fine dining while a silent and live auction take place. Smaller items like gift certificates, getaways, and furniture or household items are placed in the silent auction while larger items like vacation packages, grand pianos, and golf packages go in the live auction.
“This gala helps hundreds of students every year,” said Fire and Ice chair Ronda Neilson. “I feel honored to work with so many great service oriented people on our all volunteer committee and the professionals at DSU. Fire and Ice is a spectacular community event that helps need-base students achieve their education.”
Doctors told Averie Turpin that there was a chance she would be partially deaf for the rest of her life. She had a hearing defect since childhood, and she finally had an ear operation during her freshman year of high school that would either fix her hearing or leave her partially deaf. Fortunately, her hearing made a full recovery after surgery, but the experience fostered her curiosity for the deaf community. In high school, she took classes in American Sign Language, developed a love for the nonverbal language, and decided that was the career path she would choose.
Turpin’s plan to attend college came crashing down when she found out she was pregnant after high school graduation and became a mom at the age of 19. She had no funds to cover tuition and the expense of raising a child. She was able to attend DSU for a short time while her mother worked there, but once her mother left, she was faced with costs she couldn’t cover.
“I had no choice but to drop out, really,” Turpin said. “I couldn’t afford to pay for school and support my kids with the number of hours I would have to work.” Turpin heard about the Fire & Ice Scholarship, a need-based award given to DSU students, just before she was going to withdraw from school.
Once a year, The Dixie Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit foundation that exists to support DSU and education, holds a formal gala to raise funds for students who would not otherwise be able to complete their schooling because of financial constraints. She did some research, found she met all the qualifications, and then, with nothing to lose, applied.
“The Fire and Ice Scholarship made it possible to keep going,” she said.
Turpin is currently pursuing a degree in communication with an American Sign Language minor because of the scholarship she received, and she plans on working in a school district to help children who are in need of an interpreter after graduation in May. She and her three daughters do homework together every night, and she said the Fire and Ice Scholarship made her academic dreams possible. At this year’s scholarship luncheon, she was able to meet with some of the Fire and Ice donors and event organizers who pushed her closer to her life goals.
“It’s great to be a part of this community and foundation that gives back,” said Neilson. “It helps so many people every year.”
Donations are tax deductible. For more information about the Dixie Foundation or to purchase tickets, donate, or volunteer to help with the Fire and Ice Gala, visit dixiefoundation.org, call (435) 817-9847, or email ronda@dixiefoundation.org.
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