PORT VINCENT — A local nonprofit helping women escape abusive relationships is holding a fundraiser this weekend and counting on your sweet tooth to help make a difference.
Ashleigh Burns started Faith to Flee in July of 2025 as way to help women who are leaving domestic violence with housing, legal aid, counseling, and job readiness. Since then, she has helped dozens of women find the support they need to help themselves, and their families.
Cake bingo fundraiser
Burns has been working hard to raise money for the organization so she can continue helping women and their children better their lives. On Saturday, Jan. 17, Faith to Flee is hosting its latest fundraiser: cake bingo. It’s happening at the Port Vincent Community Center at 18500 LA Hwy 16 in Port Vincent from 6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Tickets are required and admission is $5. “That includes entrance into the event and one bingo card. Any bingo card after that is an additional $2,” Faith to Flee founder Ashleigh Burns said. “We will also have food for sale, which will be taco plates with two tacos, a scoop of corn, a cupcake, and a drink for $10.”
On top of cake bingo, there will also be musical chairs with a chance to win a cake, along with a raffle. Raffle tickets are $3 each, and prizes include a s’mores maker, a Bluetooth speaker, and a folding table for camping.
Admission tickets and raffle tickets can be purchased in advance through the PayPal, Venmo, and Cashapp QR codes below, or at the door. If you reserve an early admission ticket, you’re asked to provide your email in the comments with your purchase.
“We can only have 170 people at the venue. Currently on the Facebook event, we have 90 people interested, but we have sold 15 pre-sale tickets,” Burns said.
All of the money raised on Saturday will go directly to Faith to Flee. “I pay for everything out of pocket. The foundation hasn’t paid for anything, so everything that we raise will go straight to the foundation,” she said.
Helping those in need
Burns says Faith to Flee has been doing well, but things have been slow because of the holidays. “I expect everything to start picking back up, people to start reaching out more.”
Most recently, Faith to Flee was able to help a woman who was at risk of losing her home. “We were actually able to raise the money to keep her in her house with her kids,” Burns said. “We were also able to help her kids with some gifts just to kind of perk up their spirits with everything that they had going on.”
Burns has even had people reach out who live outside of Louisiana. “Everyone that I’ve had reaching out has been out of state, so I’ve been helping them try to find some resources within their state,” she said.
Future plans
Starting next month, Burns is planning to host a monthly support group. “I’m not a licensed therapist or social worker or anything like that. The support group is just to bring women together who have been through similar things to help each other out and build a community for them if they don’t have one,” she said.
“At each event, we’ll have a guest speaker who’s either speaking about domestic violence from their career standpoint, like police officers and attorneys, or more victims who are sharing their stories to hopefully try to open up the conversation,” Burns continued.
The first support group is scheduled for Feb. 28.
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