FAIRHOPE, Ala. — On Saturday, Sept. 13, the Fairhope Pirate Booster Club will host the 14th annual Drawdown fundraising event at Oak Hollow Farm in Fairhope.

This is the major fundraising event of the year, according to Booster Club President Mike Baugh.

“The event is also an opportunity to communicate the mission of the Booster Club to those who may be confused concerning exactly what the all sports program does for the local high school and middle school athletic programs,” Baugh said.

Since elected president of the booster club in 2007, Baugh said he has devoted a fair amount of time to correcting misperceptions regarding the mission and purpose of the club.

The booster club has been in existence for a number of years but was reformed in 2001 to establish the current all-sports focus and to apply for tax-exempt 501(c)(3) status.

“Bob Callahan, John Baker, Vann Saltz, Jim Godfrey and others took the existing organization and restructured it to make it the vibrant organization it is today,” Baugh said.

In the years since the founding, the booster club has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in the community to support Pirate sports at the upper level schools.

“One of the most common misconceptions about our Booster Club is that we primarily support the football program,” Baugh said. “While the football program does benefit from the training expenses, we pay for coaches, playoff expense reimbursement and other equipment that is used by the football team, in reality, the football program actually receives the smallest direct allocation of funds compared to any other sport. In contrast, the football program is one of the major contributors to the booster club as the proceeds from football concessions and other football related activities directly fund the booster club general account,” Baugh said.

“We are most proud of the fact that the Fairhope Pirate Booster Club supports all sports that exist at Fairhope High and Fairhope Middle School.”

Considering that some sports do not have a large attendance gate to help fund the cost of that sport, the club’s annual allocations go a long way to help those sports pay their expenses.

“In our booster club, we all work to raise money so that all of our student athletes can compete in a first-class environment. It is all for one and one for all. I am most impressed at how hard some parents work, especially those with no children in the schools, to make sure they make a difference in the life of our student athletes,” he said.

The booster club grants money to the High School and Middle School sports programs through direct allocations, usually $750 to $1,500 per sport, per year, as well as providing coach training and certification, playoff expenses, equipment and other resources that may be used by more than one sport. In addition, it makes capital improvement contributions, including the recent gift of $200,000 toward the girl’s field house at Fairhope High School, which will be used by both High School and Middle School female athletes. This is the only girl’s conditioning facility in the state of Alabama and the booster club paid for much of the bill along with other local organizations. Distributions to the individual sports are made throughout the year based on a budget developed from the recommendation of the Athletic Directors and approval from the booster club membership.

The club receives its financial resources from several places including annual memberships that run from June 1 through May 31 of each year, the Drawdown event in the fall, a golf tournament in the spring and two pancake breakfasts during the school year. Other donations are also welcome.

The new club Web site at www.fairhopeboosterclub.com was updated in June, and a new regularly distributed electronic newsletter was developed to keep the membership and community informed of current news as well as sports schedules and other areas of community interest in FHS and FMS sports. Current membership applications are available online.

The upcoming Drawdown will take on a different look as the event will feature a live band, Tribute. Also, the Silent Auction committee, led by Anne and Andrew Braswell, has put together a large collection of outstanding items with a conservative retail value of over $12,000. As in years past, the last Drawdown number on the board will take home $5,000.

Tickets are on sale through Wednesday, Sept. 10 and are only available at the Fairhope High School office or through a Drawdown committee member, including Baugh (mbaugh@ustg.net), Missy Bradley, Eddie and Susan Hunt, Roger Gradle, Ann and Andrew Braswell, Lanette and Stu Fuller or Jeff and Pam Kent.