By MARY STEWART | The Selma Times-Journal

The Selma Charity League is searching for sponsors for its upcoming “Rolling on the River” casino night. The event will be hosted at ArtsRevive and will begin at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 17.

All casino games will be played with “funny money” rather than actual cash.

“At the end of the night, depending on how many chips you win, you’ll get raffle tickets,” said Anne Wilkinson, president of the Selma Charity League. “There will be prizes raffled off at the end of the night.”

The event will benefit the Selma Police Department.

“Well instead of complaining about all the crime going on in Selma, we thought we would do something about it,” Wilkinson said.

She said the league voted to give proceeds to the police department rather than a typical charity because they wanted to see a positive change in the city.

“We thought it would be a good idea to give back to the city itself,” she said.

Casino night was a fun-filled event for many years before the charity league stopped hosting this event. Wilkinson said the women brought it back because so many people wanted them to.

“People around town have been asking us to bring this back because it has been such a success in previous years,” she said. “So, I know the people we’ve talked to around town are excited.”

Another exciting change to casino night is the table challenge.

“That will include tickets to the event, and you’ll get funny money for that,” Wilkinson said.

Each team will pay $300 and be given a round table with a whitableclothoth to decorate. They will be able to decorate it the day before or the day of.

“Our theme this year is rolling on the river casino night, and the business or the group of friends can come up with whatever decorations they want to fit the theme,” Wilson said.

The team who has the best table will receive a prize of $600.

“(The Table Challenge) doesn’t have to be a business,” she said, “It can be a group of friends or family, but that’s a way to guarantee your way into the night before the general admission tickets go on sale.”

The Table Challenge is limited, so if a team is interested, they need to contact the Selma Charity League as soon as possible.

Wilkinson said that the league is still seeking sponsors for the event, and sponsorships come at many different levels. The sponsorship levels are High Rollers, Royal Flush and Full House.

High Rollers pay $750 and receive eight tickets with $500 funny money each. They will also receive an invitation to a VIP cocktail hour before the event. High Rollers will also get entrance into the table challenge if desired.

The Royal Flush pay $500 and will receive six tickets with $500 funny money per ticket.

Both of these groups will have their business or group name on the casino table.

The last level is the Full House. This group pays $250 and receives four tickets with $500 in funny money per ticket.

All sponsors names will be on the banners at the event and all other forms of advertisements.

Sponsorships need to be turned in by the end of the second week in January.

General admission tickets will be available for purchase two days following the end of sponsorships. Wilkinson said that the amount of general tickets will depend on how many are sold with sponsorships.

Single admission tickets are $45 and couples tickets are $75. Each ticket comes with $500 in funny money. Tickets will be sold on eventbrite.com, and a link to the website will be posted on the Selma Charity League Facebook page.

Casino night will feature black jack, craps, roulette and a poker tournament. The poker tournament will be an extra cost, and the winner will receive a prize.

“I’m very excited, and I know the rest of the league is very excited,” Wilkinson said, “So hopefully it will be a good turnout, and we can raise a lot of money for the police department.”

If you would like to sponsor, enter the Table Challenge or have any questions, send an email to charityleagueselma@gmail.com, or you can send them a message on their Facebook page.