The ship is boarding as the Old Mill Center for Children and Families is looking to raise money for programs and scholarships through its annual fund-raiser Saturday. The Corvallis center is hosting "Passport to Paradise."

The center provides to children and their families services for educational, social, emotional and family needs. The center provides support to at-risk children from birth to age 18. Among other services, Old Mill provides help at schools in Alsea, Corvallis and Philomath.

This year's cruise ship theme includes ports of call such as Paris, Hawaii, The Great Wall of China, St. Thomas, Italy, Africa and Rio de Janeiro. Different parts of the event have been molded to mirror those ports.

The event will include a Caribbean-style dinner; silent and live auctions; Monte Carlo gaming with prizes for the winners; and prize drawings. The big-ticket item for the live auction is a safari in South Africa.

Event organizers are aiming to raise $125,000. The major sponsors for the event are Town and Country Realty, Samaritan Health Services and T. Gerding Construction. The center receives much of its funding through contracts with state and local agencies, in addition to contributions, special events and fund-raisers.

Among the 700 items for auction are a Northwest-inspired bronze sculpture, serigraph art framed in rare koa wood, luxury suites at Crater Lake Lodge and Running Y Ranch Resort, a purple sapphire and diamond ring and a ruby pendant.

"The support we get is huge," said center director Bev Larson. "It's gratifying to see the amount of support we get from people."

Mindi Rich, the event organizer, had hoped to scale back on the auctions, but the donations just kept coming in.

"People just want to give and give, and we don't want to say no," she said.

The center's Thelma "Skinny" Larson Children's Scholarship Fund — which helps low-income children and families who wouldn't otherwise be able to pay for the center's programs — will be taking pledges during the live auction.

Thelma Larson, Bev Larson's mother, answers the telephone at the center. The scholarship fund was named for her several years ago when the staff wanted to do something in her honor.

"The scholarships really are the most important for the kids," Rich said.

In its 28 years, the center hasn't had to turn anyone away because they didn't have enough money, said Larson, who co-founded the center in 1976 with Barb Kralj.

Rich brought her children to the center about five years ago and she became a parent volunteer. Five years later, her children no longer attend the center but she remains involved.

"I just think this is one incredible place where they do so many amazing things," said Rich, president of the Friends of Old Mill, the center's fund-raising organization. "It just melts my heart."

Larson said it's sometimes misunderstood and goes unknown that the center works with kids of all ages and serves children who have full capabilities and those who don't.

"We are a resource," Larson said, "for everybody," added Rich.

Jesse Sowa covers general assignments for the Gazette-Times. He can be reached at jesse.sowa@lee.net or 758-9521.

At a glance

WHAT: Old Mill Center for Children and Families' Passport for Paradise

WHEN: 5:30 p.m. Saturday

WHERE: CH2M Hill Alumni Center, Oregon State University

COST: $65 per person includes hors d'oeuvres, drinks and dinner

CONTACT: For information or to make reservations, call 757-8068. Tickets will be available at the door, but reservations are preferred.