Bikes and blues, cash and country will combine Thursday night for the children of Warren County at the Eleventh Annual Jammin’ for the Kids benefit and toy drive.

If you go

The Eleventh Annual Jammin’ for the Kids will be at 6 p.m. Dec. 11 at Jacque’s Cafe in the Mississippi Room at the Battlefield Inn, 4137 N. Frontage Road. Admission is $5 or a new toy. Raffle and auction.

At least 20 local bands and musicians will perform at the event, which will begin at 6 p.m. in Jacque’s Cafe at the Battlefield Inn. Along with music, the evening will include a raffle and auction, said jail chaplain Earnie Hall, an  event coordinator.

The annual bash raises money and collects toys to provide Christmas gifts for the children of inmates, whether at the Warren County jail, the state penitentiary or other facility, as well as other needy children in the city and county, said Sheriff Martin Pace.

Hall gave credit to the musicians. “Every year they have taken it upon themselves to raise funds for the kids,” he said. “All of them have been there faithfully over the years and they’d be the first to say it’s all about the kids.”

About 300 applications have been received from families so far and will continue to come in up until Christmas, said Stacy Hartley, who works with Hall and Pace to coordinate the event.

“I do it for the kids,” said Hartley. “The kids shouldn’t have to suffer because of the parents being in jail or not having any money.”

All money raised at Jammin’ for the Kids is spent on Christmas gifts for Warren County children, she added. “We just encourage all of Vicksburg to come out and help our hometown kids.”

“There’s maybe 135 men and about 12 to 15 women in the jail here,” Hall said. “That means there’s often no dad at home. The moms are tying to hold it together, but there’s lots of holes, like at Christmas. We want to help the families, to stand in the gap.”

Several days before Christmas, the gifts are distributed to a parent or family member who comes to the jail to pick up the item. Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus are on hand at the distribution to spend some time with any of the children who come along.

Among the musicians scheduled to perform this year are Patrick Smith, Ted and Chris Holman, John Howard Dennis & Friends, Daniel Gilbert and Lee H. Abraham.

Last year’s event raised close to $3,000, Hall said, which helped provide gifts for about 250 youngsters.

Thursday night’s admission is $5 or a new toy, but raffle and auction items will also be accepted, Hall said. Donations can include tools, hunting equipment, gift shop items, anything someone might be interested in bidding on, and can be brought to the jail before Thursday.

Sponsors for the fund raiser include the musicians, Jacque’s Cafe and Lounge, chaplain Hall’s Beyond Walls ministry and Prison Fellowship, a national evangelical prison ministry.

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Contact Pamela Hitchins at phitchins@vicksburgpost.com.