Petal resident Cliff Pace is the 2013 Bassmaster Classic Champion and the 2019 MLF Bass Pro Tour State Eight Champion, with more than 150 fishing tournaments entered and more than $1.762 million in earnings from his professional fishing career.
Now, Pace is set to help bring blessings to his hometown and the Petal Children’s Task Force, with a fundraiser that will help the task force fund its food boxes given out through the community - and provide one lucky winner with a fishing trip with Pace.
“It’s a good time of the year for me at home; I’ve got some additional time off on my schedule,” Pace said. “It’s a good way to give back to something that’s a great cause for the community.
“(The task force) has done a great job with that for a long time, and I grew up with (the family) and we’ve always been friends. So it was just an opportunity to help them with a cause that helps with the community.”
Tickets for the fundraiser can be purchased for $20 each, with three possible prizes. The first place winner will receive a day of fishing for two, during which the winner and a guest will have dinner provided during an overnight stay at a hotel near Lake Pontchartrain in Slidell, Louisiana, some time in November.
The next morning, Pace will pick up the winner at the hotel and treat them to an all-day fishing expedition on the lake. At the end of the day, Pace will clean and pack up the fish for the winner to take home. A $50 gas card also will be provided for the winner.
The second prize winner will receive $500 in cash; third place is $250 cash. Winners will be drawn Oct. 11, during the Petal football game against Brandon at Panther Stadium.
“The first name we draw will get their choice between the trip, $500 cash or $250 cash,” said Demaris Lee, executive director of the Petal Children’s Task Force. “The second name we draw, they can pick from the other two gifts that are left over. Then the third name will get whatever is left over.”
Tickets can be purchased at the task force office at 314 South George Street in Petal, or at the Aug. 24 “Sink the Boat” event, which will be held during the Petal/Hattiesburg game at Panther Stadium. During that event, attendees are asked to bring non-perishable food items to the game, which will be stacked in Pace’s boat and used for the food boxes.
Officials will set up on two sides of the stadium for “Sink the Boat,” and depending on help, may even set up a table on the visitors’ side.
“We gave out over 30 boxes just (on Monday), so if you figure 30 boxes a day, that’s 150 a week,” Lee said. “We did 441 last month, and that doesn’t include extras, and that doesn’t include the homeless bags.
“So we’re in dire need of green beans, corn and all that. I never thought I’d have to ask for that, but I’m having to ask for it. We’re going to sink the boat with it.”
Lee said so far, ticket sales for the fundraiser have been going great.
“We’re doing good,” she said. “We’re wanting to sell 500 tickets, is what we’re wanting to do. So that’s my goal, and I’m sticking to it.”
The Petal Children’s Task Force was founded in 1989 and continues to provide food assistance to residents in the Petal area, including those who don’t have children in the Petal School District. For more information, call (601) 255-5578.
