The Exchange Club of Jones County, with the help of the Jones County Lions Club, is hosting a charity bingo game and spaghetti supper, and the community is invited for a night of good food and fun while raising money for a great cause.

The fund-raiser will be held Feb. 1 at the Jones County Lions Club fairgrounds. The Exchange Club is sponsoring the Bingo game and Lions Club members are providing the spaghetti supper and delicious concessions to feed hungry players.

The doors will open at 5:30 p.m. and the spaghetti supper starts at 6 p.m. Bingo will begin at 7. A cash prize of $25 will be awarded for each of six games with the final blackout paying $250 to the lucky winner. Door prizes will be given away and a half and half raffle will be held.

Admission for the bingo is $20 for a six-card package, and additional cards will be made available for each game as well as the final coverall. The price for spaghetti meals is $5, and carry-out is available.

The Exchange Club has held several successful auctions during the past few years and held its first bingo in May to bring something new to the county.

That bingo was also done in a partnership with the Lions Club and was successful for both organizations.

Funds from next month’s bingo will be used to support the Jones County Safe House, which is a joint project of the club and the Jones County Sheriff’s Department.

The Exchange Club of Jones County is in its ninth year of existence. Exchange is the nation’s oldest service club, and its history dates back to 1800 when a group of businessmen began meeting in Detroit to exchange business leads and information.

Child abuse prevention has been adopted as the focus of the National Exchange Club, and the local club has carried out the goal by distribution of shaken baby syndrome brochures throughout the county and assisting the Jones County Department of Family and Children’s Services with a park for parental visitation and a child-friendly waiting area for youngsters for its lobby.

The safe house project is a perfect fit for the local club. Sheriff Butch Reece had the idea of the safe house when the opportunity arose to utilize available FEMA trailers. He said the trailers were received with the aid of the U.S. Marshal Service and explained that his department receives first chance at equipment and even furniture because the county houses federal prisoners.

The sheriff was looking for a civic organization to partner with his department to help with expenses, and he found that partner in the Exchange Club.

The safe house trailer has four bunk beds, a double bed and a sofa that converts to another double bed. It had the necessary furniture but needed dishes, linens, small appliances, and a stocked pantry. The trailer will sleep six comfortably and will be utilized for families in the midst of a domestic crisis as well as circumstances such as house fires.

The Exchange Club has raised the money to furnish the trailer, and fund-raisers such as bingo will help to pay continuing expenses, such as utility bills. Captain Billy Mitchell has been involved in the project since day one and said the safe house has been set up and will be ready as soon as the septic tank is finished.

For more information about the Feb. 1 events or the safe house, interested parties may call 936-9127.