Life will be celebrated with humor and success stories at the fourth annual Pregnancy Help Center Banquet.
Gordon Douglas will deliver "Celebrate Life With Laughter" at the event 6:30-8:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 20, at the Capitol Plaza Hotel in Jefferson City.
Reservations for the free-meal banquet are due Tuesday. Call 573-644-6635 or go to www.friendsofphc.org.
The Christian service to expecting mothers has been open for two years. This single fundraiser supports about half of the center's annual operating budget.
Executive Director Leslie Kerns said organizers anticipate record numbers this year.
"Imagine what would happen if Gilligan and the Energizer Bunny had a child - add a touch of God's grace, and you have Gordon Douglas," Kerns said.
Douglas learned from his comedy heroes, including Bill Cosby and Red Skelton. He mixes real-life stories with off-the-wall physical comedy.
He also weaves in life lessons. Douglas speaks from his own experiences with a household, which includes five children, two prisoners under house arrest, a brother-in-law with Down Syndrome and several missionaries.
"We thought this was a fresh approach to a serious issue," Kerns said.
In addition to Douglas' speech, Julie Rollins and Captivated will provide music, Cole County Sheriff Greg White will be the emcee and a teenage client will share how the center has helped her.
The center has grown its services in the last year.
They help women gain health insurance and find housing. They offer parenting, prenatal, life skills and post-abortion healing classes.
New this year, they have added a Healthy Pregnancy Health Baby class, using life-like mannequins to compare size and sounds of healthy infants compared with those born to mothers who have used alcohol and drugs during gestation.
Shyre McCune has been hired as a part-time new-client service manager.
The center also has seen an increased interest in its Bible study, "I'm not good enough' and other lies women tell themselves."
And the center is seeing more clients than it did the fall of 2013.
In the near future, the center will begin a peer-mentoring program, matching a client with a volunteer to build one-on-one relationships.
Several local organizations and churches have hosted Baby Bottle Campaigns, baby showers and diaper drives to collect donations of money and baby items for the center's Baby Boutique.