Pride Cornhole Carnival held at Wolf Creek to support LGBTQ Center

Despite many months of dread and frustration over the ongoing pandemic, a spark of fun was seen at Wolf Creek Brewery on Aug. 14, where members of Girl Scouts Troop 7012 collaborated with the sports tournament automation system Scoreholio in running the Pride Cornhole Carnival to benefit the SCV LGBTQ Center at Wolf Creek Brewery.

In addition to cornhole, the event included a variety of other activities to partake in, such an auction, face painting and artist booths. Vendors included food trucks from Go Fusion Grill and Tikiz Shaved Ice & Ice Cream.

At its peak 150 people were in attendance, as music blasted while children ran around from booth to booth, as teams would participate in a cornhole tournament, with onlookers of all ages watching on the sidelines as the losing teams were eliminated from the brackets till one team was left standing. In addition to concessions from the local food truck, Wolf Creek Brewery provided their own. 

“Almost on a weekly basis we run different fundraisers for high school sports, charity events, pretty much anyone who has a cause to raise money for we run them up here (Wolf Creek),” said Benjamin Budhu, Scoreholio’s CEO. 

The group has also previously organized an event contributing Saugus High School Football. Scoreholio is also planning a corporate event in the upcoming weeks to help contribute to a construction company. 

The primary overseers of the community projects were Girl Scouts Ella Freed, Bella Budhu – Benjamin’s daughter – and Jean Choi, who all worked with Scoreholio to lead the event so they could each earn their Silver Awards, which is among the highest honors Girl Scout Cadettes can achieve.

“We’re all big supporters of the LGBTQ community, so we tried to find some way to incorporate that into the project,” Freed said. The troop plans to announce total earnings for the event on Aug. 21 via their Instagram page.

The process, according to Freed, started towards the beginning of the summer and took about eight weeks for the group to organize. The group would contact local businesses, in-person and digitally asking for donations. 

“Our gift baskets were donated, we didn’t purchase a lot of things, most of the things from the event were brought by the vendors,” Freed added. 

“A few things we were looking for was a gift card or specific items from [a] store,” said Bella. 

With many businesses donating items such as soaps or leggings as prizes for auction, the group hopes to do a similar event next year for their Gold Award. 

Profits from the event were donated to the SCV LGBTQ Center, founded by Finley Walker. Initially starting small, Walker built a strong online presence in order to garner support for the center. 

“This event is something people put on for us as opposed to ones we put on for ourselves…the community has really shown up for us and it’s been amazing,” said Walker. 

Although there is no formal location for the center yet, Walker said funds from the event would go towards this process, hoping to find a permanent location within a year. 

“It’s difficult, property is expensive and donations need to be consistent in order to pay rent,” Walker added.  

Walker himself was present at the event, having helped to gather volunteers for some of the booths, with Walker’s sister, Olivia, responsible for the character artist booths. 

“[Freed, Budhu and Choi] reached out to me about wanting to put on an event that would benefit an organization and I’m super honored they chose the LGBTQ Center,” Walker said. 

Those interested in finding out more about the SCV LGBTQ Center can visit their website to sign up for their email list for updates on upcoming programs and events. For any questions, email scvlgbtqcenter@gmail.com. Stay up-to-date on news from the SCV LGBTQ Center by following their social media, including Facebook and Instagram.

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