The sixth annual Power of the Purse raised $50,000 for the Imagination Library Thursday night. 

More than 300 women attended the fundraiser, held at the MSU Riley Center, surpassing last year’s attendance of 170. The highest bid was for a Louis Vuitton Speedy that went for $1,400 in the live auction. 

Cheryl Mars was the recipient of the 2018 Judith Coursey Crowson Women’s Leadership Award for empowering women to impact their communities by raising awareness for education, income and health. 

Mars was described as someone who aligns herself with one of United Way’s focal areas, education being one of them.

Mars is a retired educator who taught for 28 years. She still tutors, substitutes at the schools, and is an active volunteer in Neshoba County. During the holidays she dresses up at Mrs. Clause and reads at day care facilities and schools. Organizers said she was chosen because she is a great representation of the importance of education by how she loves the children in her community.

Event chairwoman Kaki Knight said this year’s Power of the Purse was the largest, most successful event to date.

“We were blown away with the amount of support we received from the community this year, and we look forward to it growing even more in the future,” Knight said. “On behalf of the committee and myself, thank you to everyone who came out to support our local Imagination Library.”

Sponsored by the Women’s Leadership Council of the United Way of East Mississippi, over the past five years, Power of the Purse has given more than $100,000 plus for the local Imagination Library, which benefits about 4,200 children in Lauderdale, Clarke, Kemper and Neshoba counties between birth and five years of age.