By Conrad Dudderar
Staff Writer
Supporters of Manna Pantry will learn “who shot the sheriff” during a mystery dinner theater benefit next month in Yukon.
To raise funds for the Canadian County food bank, a Whodunit murder mystery and silent auction will be Thursday, Sept. 8 at The Progress Room, 10 W Main. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the dinner and event start at 6:30 p.m.
“Come fill your belly, tickle your funny bone and warm your heart,” Manna Pantry Director Sherri Rogers said.
The upcoming show will provide the audience with some side-splitting entertainment, Manna Pantry Board Member Darren Heusel added.
“You’ll enjoy great food and plenty of fun – all while giving to a great cause, helping feed the hungry in Canadian County,” Heusel said.
Tickets are $65 each.
“Our goal is to sell 300 tickets,” Heusel said. “This will be a memorable evening and you won’t want to miss out.”
Attendees will watch Oklahoma’s award-winning Whodunit Dinner Theater comedy troupe perform their show, “Who Shot the Sheriff?”
The audience will become part of Brookside’s town “meetin’,” where townsfolk are “mournin’ the loss” of Sheriff John Brown while “tryin’ to sniff out who kilt him.”
Whodunit is the state’s “best and longest-running comedy murder mystery dinner theater,” according to its website.
Scripts are written by Whodunit’s director, Oklahoma playwright Terri Myers. The acting staff puts their talented touch on each script, making every performance original, amazing, memorable, and different from the next.
Learn more at http://www.whodunit.net
The Sept. 8th Manna Pantry fund-raiser dinner will be catered by Bad Brad’s Bar-B-Q of Yukon.
The event will feature a silent auction of some nice prizes, like a handmade purse and wallet, shotgun or rifle, guided striper fishing trip, rounds of golf, and a stay at Paradise Point Resort in Hollister, Mo.
Proceeds from the Whodunit murder mystery and auction will directly benefit Manna Pantry, an emergency food pantry that has served the community since 1975.
Anyone interested in attending this “fun-raiser” should order tickets online at dinner.mannapantryyukon.com
Order deadline is Monday, Sept. 5. Table sponsorships are $500 each.
WHY MANNA PANTRY?
Manna Pantry expanded its reach well beyond Yukon early this year after moving to the new Together We Center on the Trinity Baptist Church campus, 620 N Cemetery Road.
Previously, the local food cupboard served Yukon and Piedmont residents from a converted 800 square-foot-house at Sixth and Maple.
The pantry now has 2,000 square feet of space, including a warehouse, to serve clients across Canadian County.
“Since opening our doors Jan. 18, we have served more than 425 new clients,” Heusel noted.
Through Aug. 15, the Manna Pantry at the Together We Center helped 6,674 individuals.
This includes 5,132 people in the 73099 zip code (Yukon), 569 in the 73064 zip code (Mustang), 414 in the 73127 zip code (Oklahoma City), 141 in the 73036 zip code (El Reno), and 132 in the 73078 zip code (Piedmont).
In July, Manna Pantry served 389 families (78 of them new clients), with 780 adults and 451 children.
The June total was 408 families, including 91 new to the pantry.
Through July, food donations to Manna Pantry totaled 265,949 in 2022.
Monetary gifts are welcome as well.
“For every dollar donated, we can provide 10 meals,” Rogers said.
Manna Pantry’s hours are Tuesday from 3-6 p.m., Wednesday from 9 a.m. to noon, Thursday from 5-8 p.m., and Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon.
Learn more at mannapantry@togetherwecenter.com
