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Parrothead buffet boosts homeless
By Kirk Boutselis, Sun Correspondent
Lowell Sun
Article Last Updated:03/24/2007 07:00:48 AM EDT

LOWELL -- Jimmy Buffett and homelessness are two words that don't often find themselves in the same sentence, but a local nonprofit organization joined forces with a tribute band for the king of Margaritaville last night in an effort to shake homelessness from Greater Lowell.

Nearly 500 "parrotheads" and other revelers gathered at Lowell Memorial Auditorium for Community Teamwork Inc.'s fifth-annual carnival-themed fundraiser, "A Night in Key West."

The $100 tab, which admitted more than one partygoer, is going toward CTI's homelessness preventative services which support struggling families that do not always make the cutoff for receiving state aid.

Community Relations Coordinator Sharon Shelton said organizers this year set the goal at $45,000, with an additional $5,000 expected from a silent auction featuring more than 60 gift baskets.

The tribute band, Changes in Latitude, entertained guests with Buffett's best songs as others danced and tossed a beachball throughout the crowd. Nearly every guest could be seen with a decorative lei, grass skirt or colorful "parrot hat."

CTI Executive Director Karen Frederick said the festivities will go a long way in helping local families.

Frederick remembers a working couple CTI helped a few years ago who had two children and lost their home-heating system. After the family contacted CTI's division of property and energy services, the couple's burner was replaced and they continued to utilize the organization's fuel-assistance program. Without CTI, Frederick said, the family might have been forced to leave their home.

"We find people who you wouldn't expect coming through the doors of our agency," she said. "More and more poor people are working and just can't get by."

Said Shelton, "(More and more) people are living paycheck to paycheck. When one thing or two things go wrong it can all fall apart,"

Shelton said CTI serves about 30,000 people a year in 42 cities and towns, mostly in Greater Lowell.