MOSES LAKE — A banquet to raise money for the Moses Lake Christian Academy athletic program filled the 4-H building at the Grant County Fairgrounds and raised about $40,000.

The crab feed drew about the same size crowd as 2015, said Stephanie Voigt, the school’s director, because the event was – and is – a sellout. “We’re at capacity,” she said.

The money raised supports the school’s athletic program, which includes basketball, volleyball, baseball, golf, soccer and cheerleading. Athletes show their gratitude for the help by working at the banquet, Voigt said. “They do a ton of the setup, they break down, they serve,” and many other chores surrounding the event, she said.“It’s a lot of fun.”

Along with the crab and prime rib, the evening features a raffle and a live auction. The raffle prizes included a package for a Seattle Sounders soccer game. The auction only includes 10 items, Voigt said, but they’re big items – tickets to a Seahawks game and a vacation package in the Tuscany region of Italy, among others.

There will be a 2017 crab feed. “This year we even had people buying tickets for next year,” Voigt said.

Academy officials also announced the donation of 9nine acres to the school, which will be used for a soccer and baseball field. The land is located adjacent to the campus and was a driving range, part of a nine-hole golf course that looped around the school campus. The golf course has been removed and the land is being redeveloped into an apartment complex.

The land donated to MLCA is adjacent to the South Campus Athletic Club. Voigt said the MLCA board and administrators will be working on a fundraising campaign to develop the property as athletic fields. The academy board and administrators are still doing research to determine the cost; Voigt said the board wants the project to be 100 percent funded before ground is broken.

When completed the facility would be available for community use as well as MLCA students, she said.

More than 700 people were served during the 2016 crab feed, Voigt said. The menu features crab caught about 48 hours previously, then cleaned, cooked and shipped to Moses Lake, Voigt said. The prime rib part of dinner was catered by Michael’s.