The Business After Hours event this month was sponsored by the Hope Civitan Club, a chapter of Civitan International.

At the Hempstead County Chamber of Commerce office in Hope, a table was laid out with fruit kebabs, fudge brownies, lemon cupcakes, Oreo cookies and bags of roasted pecans and trail mix. The beverages were lemonade and fruit punch.

Amber Mackey, the Hope Civitan Club's president, said the group primarily aids individuals with developmental disabilities, but also provides scholarships to soon-to-be graduates of Hope High School which will be announced during Senior Awards night.

In the first week in June, expect the Hope Civitan Club's annual garage sale to take place in The Hub. The sale helps raise funds for the scholarships.

Other community projects from the club included helping to pick up trash during this past Saturday's city cleanup day. The Hope Civitans took charge of the work along Patmos Road. They are also planning to sponsor athletes competing in the Arkansas Special Olympics this summer. At Christmas, they will provide gifts to children in economically disadvantaged families.

During the event, attendees bought tickets for a raffle of two tickets to the Oak Ridge Boys concert this coming Friday at Hempstead Hall and a door prize of a gift basket. The winner of the tickets was Steve Buelow. The winner of the door prize was Rachel Parsons.