A young girl recently lost her mother and now the community asks your help so that she can continue on.

Following the days when Natasha Paradise passed away unexpectedly, members of the Searsport community took notice on Facebook that her daughter, 11 year-old Taylor, had asked for bottles and cans to be dropped off at their house to help cover funeral expenses.

There are now scheduled fundraisers to help cover cover among other things, funeral expenses,  a head stone and back to school costs. If the fundraising goal is exceeded, the surplus of funds will be used to set up a college savings account for Taylor to ensure she can pursue her academic dreams.

On Saturday, August 5th, at Searsport District High School on Mortland Road, activities will take place where you can help out.  Things happen between 4:30 and 9:30PM!

It begins with a bake sale, a silent auction and raffle, and a school supply drive for Taylor’s needs.  The Chef On The Run food truck will also be there with hot dog and burger baskets, donating the proceeds to the effort. Food baskets will be sold for $6-$7 each. Tina Cook, the owner of Chef On The Run, grew up with Natasha Paradise.

Then starting at 5:30 and 7:30PM, there will be a couple of fun and  very entertaining celebrity basketball games featuring alumni and staff of both Searsport and Belfast High Schools who will form the first ever area Old Geezers basketball team. They will be taking on the Young Bloods, which is a team made of current high school students from Belfast and Searsport High Schools. Women will play first.

Admission is by suggested donation of $5 per person, $3 per student and $2 per senior citizen. A 50/50 raffle will take place at halftime during the men's basketball game and winners of the silent auction and raffles will be announced at this time as well.

Any help that you can provide would be greatly appreciated by Taylor’s family and the group of parents that have rallied around this young girl in a time of great loss.  For questions or donations, contact Jess at 322-2999.

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