After raising a total of $36,540 for various local nonprofits over eight events since its inception in 2023, Small Business Bingo will return to Rochelle with two events in November and December, event organizer and AP Massage Therapy owner Ashley Patrick said Oct. 13, 2025.

The first event will be from 6-8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 6, to raise money to be split between the Community Action Network and Rochelle VFW Post 3878. The second event will be from 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 2, to raise money for Shining Star Children’s Advocacy Center and HOPE of Ogle County. Both events will be held at the hangar at Flight Deck Bar & Grill at 1207 W. Gurler Road in Rochelle.

Doors will open at 5 p.m. both nights. The cost is $15 per person for 10 rounds of bingo. Raffles are also available for an additional cost. Food and drinks will be available. It is free to reserve a table for your group and highly recommended to make reservations for bingo.

Patrick came up with the idea of bingo nights in the community, with prizes donated by local businesses, to raise money for area nonprofits in 2023. Attendance in the past years has numbered in the hundreds, with over 10 nonprofits benefiting.

“We will be pairing Shining Star and HOPE of Ogle County, who both help families,” Patrick said. “I know last year CAN couldn’t help every kid in need on its list for its local Christmas shopping trip, and I wanted to help them to be able to do that this year. This will be the first time one of our events has financially benefited the VFW and CAN.”

The Small Business Bingo nights also serve to spread awareness of the causes they benefit, which Patrick hopes will move people to donate, volunteer or utilize their services. The events this fall will also include a food drive or toy drive to benefit area causes in exchange for raffle entries.

Despite not holding an event since January, Patrick said the community has been excited upon hearing about the return of Small Business Bingo. Patrick chose to hold another event after feedback from residents that asked when it would be coming back.

Local nonprofit From the Heart ceasing operations also played into Patrick’s decision to bring back Small Business Bingo. From the Heart raised money each year with a large gala to benefit nine area nonprofits, many of which Small Business Bingo has helped in the past. From the Heart raised $90,000 in its final year.

“I felt obligated to have another large-scale event for our community,” Patrick said. “There are very few that have the turnout we have of 300-plus people. I know Small Business Bingo is different from From the Heart, but it’s still a large gathering to support some of those same causes.

“Anyone can participate in Small Business Bingo because of the $15 cost. That goes a long way and gets people involved. People feel like their $15 goes a long way and at the end of the night when we see what we’ll be donating, people enjoy that and feel like they were a part of it.”

Patrick has seen a large turnout of volunteers to help out with the upcoming events, after they were hard to come by to help run past events.

“I love to see new faces and people helping out,” Patrick said. “I have new guest bingo callers that I’m excited about. People are reaching out to me about all kinds of different ways to help and that has given me a boost. We will have a good balance this year with people wanting to be involved. I feel it’ll work out well.”

Small Business Bingo will hold two events this year after holding four per year in the past. Patrick believes that will yield good turnouts to both events and that has played into why volunteer turnout has been high.

Local businesses are generous when it comes to donating bingo and raffle prizes, Patrick said. She enjoys seeing the creativity that businesses take and the reaction to the prizes by bingo players.

“And the businesses that donated get to see that excitement,” Patrick said. “The energy of it is so much fun. People don’t want to miss Small Business Bingo or see it go away. That makes me feel good. It’s really turned into a community project at this point. Everyone is invested in seeing it be successful. It’s something we all come together on to do good for our community.”