Kyle Kellams: This is Ozarks at Large. I'm Kyle Kellams. The 12th annual Faygas — that's Faygas — is Friday night at Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville. You can enter the Texas Hold'em tournament, spin the roulette wheel, and roll dice to help raise money for the C.A.R.E. Initiative.
The C.A.R.E. Initiative is a nonprofit created by employees at Saatchi & Saatchi X more than 20 years ago. Jessica McCutcheon is the president of the C.A.R.E. Initiative, and she says it was formed as a way for employees to do something greater together rather than separately.
Jessica McCutcheon: And it's a way that they can give back to the community. Through the C.A.R.E. Initiative, we do several different charity events within our office that raise money — like a chili cook-off and a bake sale — in different ways to raise money. And then at the end of the year, this is our biggest event, Faygas.
Last year, this raised $45,000, and the organizations that benefited from those monies included Northwest Arkansas Children's Shelter, EOA Children’s House, the Children's Safety Center, CASA, and the Children's Advocacy Center.
Kellams: Obviously, for those of you with the C.A.R.E. Initiative, children are very important.
McCutcheon: Yes. C.A.R.E. Initiative was founded to help serve underserved children in the community. Primarily, that's our focus — those five charities that give back to children in Northwest Arkansas. That's how we base the C.A.R.E. Initiative, and we raise all of our money for those amazing organizations.
Kellams: All right. This is the 12th annual Faygas. What happens at Faygas? I think I can tell from the name, but give me an idea.
McCutcheon: Yeah, it's a really fun event. There's a Texas Hold'em poker tournament, and that usually has between 70 and 80 participants. If you don't like Texas Hold'em, which I'm not a big Texas Hold'em person, there's also blackjack, craps, and roulette.
If you play in the tournament, the top nine get prizes anywhere from a 75-inch screen TV to a smoker or Bluetooth headphones — just different prizes. For craps, roulette, and blackjack, you win poker chips, and you turn those poker chips in at the end of the night for raffle tickets. Then we'll have more than 25 raffle prizes that you can put your raffle tickets in to win, through organizations and different local businesses within Northwest Arkansas.
Kellams: All right. I'm not much of a gambler. I understand that with Texas Hold'em there's strategy and technique. With blackjack, you kind of know when to hit or not. Roulette has always seemed like a game of complete chance. Am I wrong on that?
McCutcheon: Yes. I mean, I think so. You have your ways — you can go red or black, you can go even or odds, or you can pick your favorite numbers. So, definitely random. But I know a lot of people — it's usually one of our busiest tables at the event because you don't really need to know anything.
Kellams: All right. How can people be there? How can you participate?
McCutcheon: You can come and play in the tournament, play the games, or just come in and enjoy some food and friends. You can go down to the Walton Arts Center box office and purchase tickets. You can also go to their website and purchase tickets.
If you have any questions, you can reach out on our Facebook page for the C.A.R.E. Initiative. We're happy to answer any questions. We have a lot of people that are just walking on Dickson Street, and they're like, "Oh, this looks like fun. I'm going to go check it out." They come on in.
We had one guy come off the street last year, and he didn't know anything about it. He ended up winning the tournament.
Kellams: Good for him. Good for him. We should mention there are different ticket price levels, because if you want to play in the tournament, that's one thing. If you want to go in and not play anything, that's just a $20 ticket.
McCutcheon: $20 ticket, all right. Yeah, and there's going to be a taco bar. There'll be a bar for drinks, sodas, and waters as well, and lots of good entertainment.
Kellams: Let's say somebody is otherwise committed and can’t be there Friday night. Is there a way to help C.A.R.E. Initiative even if you don't go to Faygas?
McCutcheon: Absolutely. We're always willing to take donations in any way that people want to help. Reach out to us about the organizations we support — they have a lot of volunteer opportunities within those five different charities, and we always encourage people to check those out because we stay close with them.
The C.A.R.E. Initiative on Facebook — you can reach out to us, and we're happy to answer any questions. We're always looking for any donations.
Kellams: All right, Jessica. We tell actors to break a leg before a performance. What do we tell gamblers before...
McCutcheon: Good luck, I guess. Know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em.
Kellams: Awesome. Jessica, thank you so much for your time.
McCutcheon: Thank you. I appreciate it.
Kellams: Jessica McCutcheon is the president of the C.A.R.E. Initiative. They are the host for the 12th annual Faygas event at Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville Friday night. Doors open Friday evening at 6. Proceeds benefit five area nonprofits working with children. Our conversation took place Monday morning.
