MOSES LAKE — The ATEC building at Big Bend Community College was well filled for Crossroads Pregnancy Center’s annual fundraiser banquet Saturday night. Roughly 320 people attended, according to Crossroads executive director Marilyn Hallberg.

The theme for the event was “Flowers in the Garden” and as in years past, Chuck Yarbro Jr. was the emcee. Dinner was catered by Sodexho and boasted carved roast beef, garlic potatoes, sauteed fall vegetables, salad and roll, with a choice of cheesecake or fruit cobbler for dessert. Moses Lake Christian Academy’s a cappella group Allegro provided music.

No figures were yet available for how much money was raised, Hallberg said, but one donor whom she preferred not to identify simply walked up to her at the event and handed her a check for $100,000.

“I looked at it and I said, ‘Wait a minute. How many zeroes are there here?’”

Yarbro donated two halves of pork and auctioned them off at the dinner. They sold for $700 apiece. Yarbro was pleased but not surprised.

“Pound for pound, nobody gives like North Central Washington,” he said. “I’ve sold fundraisers in Seattle, Spokane, Tri-Cities. I’ve done auctions all over the western United States. North Central Washington gives.

Hallberg gave an update on Crossroads’ ministry and the challenges it faces. She discussed Planned Parenthood and its abortion numbers: over 1 million babies killed by abortion last year and over 60 million since the Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 that legalized abortion across America. Planned Parenthood receives approximately $550 million from the U.S. government every year, she said.

In contrast, Hallberg said, there are over 3,000 crisis pregnancy centers like Crossroads in the United States, and with no government funding, those centers gave away $167 million in help and supplies for new moms last year.

That, she said, is what donors’ contributions do. “What do we do with the money? Keep our doors open.”

The center’s ultrasound machine has been an invaluable tool in encouraging mothers to choose life, she said. Besides that, pregnancy tests and STD screening, Crossroads also offers new and returning mothers diapers and baby needs like strollers and car seats, plus parenting classes for both mothers and fathers, counseling for post-abortive mothers and more.

““We rescue the perishing, we bind up the wounded,” Hallberg said. “We defy every attempt to rob the innocent of life.” Hallberg received a standing ovation.

This year’s guest speaker was Anna Hoduski, who made a name for herself running and bicycling across the United States in 2016 and 2017 to raise awareness of abortion and the pro-life movement. Along the way, as word spread, Hoduski found herself speaking to churches and youth groups. Hoduski, who is now 17 weeks pregnant, spoke Saturday night of her grueling journey and the faith that kept her going.

“I was born in Kansas and I was raised in Kansas, and I had no idea some of the mountains I was going to have to face while running across America. Yes, there were literal mountain chains, but there were also mental ones, financial rock faces, that I was going to have to climb. What surprised me most was the people who came alongside me in difficulties and made each mountain possible, the friends unlooked-for who provided me with hope.”

She spoke about her first foray into the mountains and the highest elevation she would face as she ran: Monarch Pass in southern Colorado, an elevation of 11,312 feet.

“That mountain pass had a 20-mile approach and I was thinking ‘this is a marathon uphill,’” she recalled. “As I ran it began to rain, and the rain turned to sleet, and the sleet turned to snow, and my legs began to burn, and my lungs began to burn. Switchback after switchback, I wondered if I could continue. I kept telling myself ‘just one more. Just one more. Just one more.’ And finally we reached the top of Monarch Pass. Through rain, sleet and snow, God provided the way.

“And as we stood on top of that pass, I looked up over my shoulder and there was a rainbow. As you all know, the rainbow is a symbol of God’s promise to be faithful. And he was that day.”