For more than a decade, Blu and Rose Funk have held a dinner each November to benefit Kalispell's Abbie Shelter for battered women and children, but because of the limited space, they could only host 56 guests. This summer, for the first time, the Funks have changed the format to a less formal burger and ice cream social affair and their hopes for participants have increased significantly.

"I'd be really happy if we got 200 people," Blu said.

The Funks started their annual fund-raiser initially because, as Blu puts it, they could use the amount of money they would give in a straight donation, combined with their culinary expertise, and create something that could generate a much bigger figure.

"We wanted to get behind the Abbie because we recognized, unfortunately, that there's a serious need in the Flathead Valley for a shelter for women and children," Blu said.

So this year, in an attempt to get even more people involved in helping the shelter, the event will run from 2 to 6 p.m. on July 19 and a $75 tickets gets you in the door, one of Showthyme's famous "Blu Burgers," plenty of salads and traditional toppings and, according to Blu, "all the ice cream you can eat."

The benefit of the less formal setting, Blu said, is that people can come and go any time during the event and will be able to do more socializing and browsing of the many silent auction items. Three separate silent auctions will be held with three different ending times so no matter when someone arrives, they'll have an opportunity to place bids.

A live auction will also be held at 5 p.m. and raffle tickets will be available for prizes.

Abbie Community Education Coordinator Jill Hoxmeier said the fund raiser at Showthyme is the biggest single money-maker for the shelter each year, and that's even more important in 2009 as a tough economy has taken its toll on donations.

"Blu is doing such a good thing for us," she said. "We've come to rely on it."

Hoxmeier said another by-product of the hard times is a spike in calls to the Violence Free Crisis Line in recent weeks.

"We've seen a huge surge in our calls," she said. "That's not to say there's more domestic violence, but if it was already present in a home and somebody lost a job, it could exacerbate it."

Hoxmeier said in 2008 the Abbie Shelter provided a safe haven for more than 80 women and 70 children, with some staying for only a night or two and some living at the home for months while trying to organize a better situation for themselves.

"We don't have a maximum time, we just work to help get them going," Hoxmeier said. "Lots of times, this is the first time these women are making these kinds of decisions on their own."

The Abbie Shelter not only provides a place to stay for victims of domestic violence, it also provides support groups for women and programming for children. Those offerings are available to anyone, whether they're seeking shelter at the house or not.

Hoxmeier said the funds raised on Sunday will help pay for the daily operation of the home as well as staff and programming.

"In the past it's always been a really lovely evening," she said. "Now we're trying to get more people involved and changed the atmosphere. It should be a lot of fun."

Tickets are available at Electric Avenue Gifts, Bigfork Drug, Books West in Kalispell, the Violence Free Crisis Line office, Gateway West Mall and Showthyme. For more information, contact Donna Lawson at 261-0234 or jugtree@aol.com.