The Rotary Club of San Marcos sponsors its annual Casino Night fundraiser on Friday, Feb. 28, at the Centex Wing of the Commemorative Air Force Museum at the San Marcos Airport. The doors open at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $50, which cover gaming chips, food, beverages, and the opportunity to explore the historic Museum. There will also be a raffle drawing for a one-carat natural diamond and custom setting valued at $11,800.
Each year Rotary dedicates 75% of proceeds from the event to a local nonprofit. This year the beneficiary will be The Kelly and Beth Damphousse Foster Educational Support Endowment at Texas State University. Kelly Damphousse and his wife Beth will speak to the Rotary Club on Wednesday, Jan. 29, about their Endowment. Damphousse has been the President of Texas State University since 2022. The meeting begins at 11:45 a.m. at the VFW Hall, 1701 Hunter Road, San Marcos. Visitors are always welcome at Rotary meetings.
Inspired by Damphousse’s experience with foster children growing up, the Damphousse Endowment helps foster students who “at no fault of their own were thrown into these circumstances.” The endowment provides financial assistance beyond traditional tuition coverage, helping with essential needs like clothing, housing and technology. The recipients are Texas State students who demonstrate financial need and who were in the Texas Foster Care system (state conservatorship in the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services on or before their 18th birthday).
Damphousse was adopted and his adoptive parents took in foster children throughout his childhood, which he says left him with a passion for justice and inclusion. He is a first-generation college graduate who personally knows, he said, the life-changing impact that higher education can have on a person’s life. Only 5% of former foster kids graduate from college, often for financial reasons. The Damphousse Endowment was created to help more fosters succeed at Texas State.
This year’s Casino Night has a Mardi Gras theme. The major sponsors include La Cima San Marcos, Chuck Nash Auto Group, Divided Sky Roofing and Solar, Brent and Liz Tuttle and Jude and Kathy Prather. Tickets can be purchased in advance from Rotarians or at the door.
The Rotary Club of San Marcos is nonprofit, nonpolitical and nonreligious. Chartered in 1921, San Marcos Rotary is part of Rotary International, a global organization that works to improve the world through service and humanitarian efforts. There are 35,000 Rotary clubs in 200 countries around the world.
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