For the second year in a row, South Central Alabama Mental Health will hold a live, silent auction and dinner.

The event is held to raise awareness of mental illness and raise money for the agency, which services the comprehensive mental health needs of the mentally ill and substance abuse patients from Butler, Coffee, Covington and Crenshaw counties.

Organizer Sharon Cornelius said funds raised this year will go to help better serve the center’s consumers.

“We want to be able to better serve those who need our services,” she said.

The fundraiser is scheduled for this Fri., May 4, from 5 p.m. until 9 p.m., at Southside Baptist Church.

“We will have a live silent auction,” she said. “And we will have a ‘little taste of Italy.’”

Cornelius said there will be a choice of chicken alfredo, lasagna or spaghetti. Cost is $10 and children 6 and under eat free.

“Everyone needs to come early,” she said. “We are only preparing enough for 200 to eat.”

Cornelius said there is no admission to the auction.

“We have BamaJam tickets, Auburn and Alabama gear, a three-day, two night vacation to Panama City and other odds and ends,” she said. “Come on, there’s something for everyone.

The center provides an array of services for people who have mental illness and for those persons who experience difficulty in coping with life events.

SCAMH offers the following mental illness and difficult situation services: assessment management, court liaison and hospital evaluations, crisis intervention, geriatric services, group counseling, in-home intervention, psychiatric services, rehabilitative day program, therapeutic residential services.