Three well-known local artists will join volunteers from several Butler churches to offer the two-day annual Gala and Art Show, which raises funds for Butler’s free community meal program.

A gala will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, March 11, at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church Hall, 432 Center Ave. in Butler.

Tickets are $25 per person and can be purchased at any of the churches where community meals are offered or at the door on the night of the gala.

The evening will include wine and light refreshments, music, a basket raffle and the opportunity to meet the event artists, Jon Pugliese, Mark Hall and Paul Means.

The church hall also will be open from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday, March 12, when members of the public can visit to enter tickets in the basket raffle and view the artists’ work on display.

The Sunday event is free to anyone interested in viewing or buying the art, or entering the basket raffles.

The artwork will be for sale on both Saturday and Sunday, with a portion of the proceeds benefitting the free community meals.

Sponsors are needed for the event, which allows volunteers to continue to provide the vital evening meals to people in need.

The free meals in downtown Butler are held at First English Lutheran Church on North Main Street, St. Paul Roman Catholic Church on North McKean Street, Saint Andrews United Presbyterian Church on East Jefferson Street, St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church on West Jefferson Street and First United Methodist Church on East North Street.

Justine Brown, manager of Katie’s Kitchen at St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran, said the 2022 gala raised more than $15,000 to support the free meals.

Volunteers from food pantries around the county as well as the organizations that supply them all report a significant increase in need in recent months, plus a reduction in a pandemic-related Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program allotment that will end after this month could mean more people accessing the community meals.

Companies and organizations interested in sponsoring the event can contact Brown at jbb105@zoominternet.net or by phone at 724-287-6741.