Locals will look Behind the Mask Saturday when seven men and five women begin their campaigns to see who can raise the most money for Twin Cedars Youth and Family Services and win the title of 2018 King and Queen of Mask.

The Twelfth Night celebration is the official kick off for fundraising efforts, and candidates for king and queen often take the opportunity to talk about themselves and what they hope to accomplish for Twin Cedars and local children with the money they raise. The King and Queen of Mask will be announced on Jan. 27 and will be the candidates who earned the most votes, with $1 counting as one vote.

In previous years, candidates have found creative ways to encourage people to donate to the cause.

“It is a lot of fun and every candidate does it a little different,” said Sheri Cody, executive director of Twin Cedars. “Last year, there were candidates who cooked pies. Ralph (Howard) who won had a Rockmore print that he sold raffle tickets for, and then the night of the event they drew the raffle ticket, and somebody won the picture. Every candidate creates their own campaign.”

This year the queen candidates are Pattie Harrelson, Nancy Bradford, Mary Beth Pelt, Ashley McWhorter and Lucretia Silcox. This year’s king candidates are Mike Duke, Shane Frailey, Chase Hall, Tyler McCoy, Kevin Henderson, Anthony Rodriguez and Josh McGinty. This group of candidates also has a few ideas on how to raise money for local children.

“We have someone this year who is talking about having a race,” Cody said. “We have somebody who is talking about doing an exercise evening, so they all do (something that shows) a bit of their own personality. Some of them pick a particular Twin Cedars program that they connect with (to support). Some just do it for Twin Cedars overall.”

Voting is underway and will end on Jan. 23 at noon. The event will be about more than just a good time.

“The bottom line is that even though Behind the Mask and the Twelfth Night party — even though all of that is a lot of fun — the bottom line is that these events are designed to help the kids who come to Twin Cedars. Some of those kids are kids from our own community who are living with their parents right here. Some of the kids that we work with are children who are in the foster care system or in the legal system, and the funds that come in help us to provide whatever it is that that child needs.”

According to Cody, Twin Cedars provides a place for about 80 children to sleep every night and works with an estimated 6,000 children in the community every year. The funds raised by the candidates go toward Twin Cedars programs like Safe Families for Children, the Troup County Prevention Coalition and Alcohol Prevention Project, the Children’s Advocacy Center of Troup County, community counseling, therapeutic foster care, Circle of Care and Darkness to Light, along with many others. Last year, the king and queen candidates raised $52,000 for Twin Cedars, making it the largest fundraiser for the nonprofit.

Twelfth Night will take place at Wild Leap Brew Co. on Saturday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Admission to the celebration is free, but attendees are encouraged to donate 15 votes, or $15, toward their choice of candidates. For more information on this year’s candidates for King and Queen of Mask and events related to the Twin Cedars fundraiser, visit Twincedars.org/btm-2018-royalty/.

The Behind the Mask ball is scheduled to take place on Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. at Del’avant. The Atlanta Funk Society, a 12-piece funk band from Atlanta, is scheduled to perform at the event, and hor d’oervres from a local caterer will be served. Tickets to the ball are $75 and can be purchased online or by calling Joanna Angstadt at (706) 616-2526.