Gala and Silent Auction to Benefit Cafe Connections

Café Connections in Pickens is throwing a party next month. 

The café on Main Street in Pickens serves as a meeting place and a ministry.

Ann Corbin and her husband Steve began a non-profit called Get Up and Go Ministries.

“Café Connections is our local ministry outreach, but we literally do ministries around the world,” Ann Corbin said.  

“We’ve been here for a year and a half now,” she said. “The city of Pickens has really embraced us, as well as Pickens County.”

She estimates 600 to 700 people come through the café a month.

The café hosts Young Life, a Christian college mentoring team.

“They mentor the high school students here in Pickens,” Corbin said. “They’ve been between 40 to 50 kids here on Monday nights, where we’re closed.”

The café hosts live music and community events, such as couponing and budgeting classes.

“Bible studies, the churches around, they like to bring their Bible studies off their campus and come in here to the café, where it’s a neutral environment,” Corbin said. “We’ve been having a lot of participation from the churches in that area.”

Ann does the “baking, cooking and cleaning,” while Steve ministers to the community.

“He does the most important part,” Ann said.

The café is available for rental.

“You can have birthdays, bridal showers, baby showers, anniversary parties, for a donation of $100, to help us offset the cost of utilities,” Corbin said. “We try to make it accessible to all people in our community, not just a particular socio-economic group. We have everybody from doctors and lawyers come in all the way down to people who don’t have much.”

The café run strictly on donations.

Café Connections will host a Christmas Gala and Silent Auction on 6:30pm Nov. 7.

“We’re really going to focus in on that as a major fundraiser for us,” Corbin said.

The gala will include a sitdown dinner, including some of Corbin’s popular desserts.

The café is looking for sponsors for the ticketed event, according to Elizabeth Chapman, who is helping to organize the event.

“So far in the community, we’ve had a really good response,” Chapman said. “People have been giving monetary donations and also silent auction items. We’re going to have different gift baskets, overnight stays to places. People can bid on the silent auction items the night of the event. Everything is going to benefit the café.”

Sponsors will receive two tickets to the Gala with their sponsorship. Sponsorship levels are Platinum, Gold and Silver.

So far, Chabby n Chic, TMA Tools Service of Liberty, Pickens First Baptist Church, Behavioral Health Services of Pickens County have signed up to sponsor the event.

Businesses that have donated silent auction items include Brock’s, Michael’s, The Melting Pot and Garren’s. 

“It’s going to be a well-rounded event,” Corbin said. 

The café’s website, getupandgoministries.org, lists all the ways people can help support the ministry.

“For example, if you can’t give a monetary donation, you can donate paper products,” Chapman said.

“People can help in a multitude of ways to keep these doors open,” Chapman said.

For tickets or to donate, call Ann Corbin at 201-1772 or stop by the café.

The café’s new hours will begin Dec. 1

“We’ll be opening Monday through Thursday 9am – 5pm, Friday 9am – 10pm and then we’re closed on Saturday for special events only,” Corbin said.

“Anything that comes into the ministry through Café Connections, we set aside 10 percent to give back to other evangelical ministries all around the world that are intent on sharing the Gospel,” Corbin said. “We don’t want to be a ministry where we’re just taking and never giving back. We want to give back a portion of what God has blessed us with. Between last year and so far this year, the ministry has been able to give away to close to $9,000.”

Last month, Corbin released her new cookbook, “Sweet Connections Cookbook.”

“It features all the recipes that I do up here at the café,” Corbin said. “It’s a big fundraiser for us.”

Corbin said she was commissioned to write the cookbook.

“I had always wanted to write, but I never thought that my first book would be a cookbook,” Ann said. “I turned out to be a baker. I didn’t think I had it in me.”

Recipes include pecan pie cake, Mama Stone’s Pumpkin Butterscotch Muffins, Parmesan Cheese Sausage Muffins, homemade coconut cake and her famous iced coffee.

“People can come from all around for her iced coffee,” Chapman said.

“And it’s only a dollar,” Corbin said. 

“They’re all easy recipes,” Chapman said.

Corbin agreed.

“They’re tasty, quick and simple,” she said. “That’s what I like about this book.”

The cookbooks are available for $10, $12 is shipping is needed.

“That’s just one of many fundraisers that we’re doing,” Corbin said. 

The book also includes stories Corbin’s written.

“If nothing else, it’ll bring a smile to your face,” Corbin said.