Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Triangle is marking 26 years of community impact on young people with its Big Night Ball, a major fundraising event unfolding Friday from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. at The Umstead Hotel and Spa at 100 Woodland Pond Drive in Cary. The evening blends a reception, silent and live auctions, dinner, and after-party dancing, all built around stories of young people matched with caring adult mentors.
The night kicks off with a reception and silent auction running from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., according to ABC11 News. Dinner and a program follow from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., before the evening shifts into a live auction and after-party dancing that runs until 11 p.m. Guests are asked to dress in cocktail attire or black tie optional.
Fundraising Fuels One-to-One Mentoring
The Big Night Ball stands as a major fundraising event for Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Triangle, and organizers have said all proceeds will support the group's mission of creating and sustaining mentoring relationships. That mission, as described on the organization's website, is to create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth, per bigstri.org.
Ahead of the event, the organization said it was seeking sponsors for the Big Night Ball while offering individual tickets at an early-bird rate, along with raffle tickets giving supporters a chance to win a luxury jewelry item. The site's own language framed the appeal directly: “We are seeking sponsors for the Big Night Ball... Individual tickets are now available at the Early Bird rate.”
Community Support Woven Into the Program
Beyond the auctions and dinner, the evening's program is built to highlight community support helping young people reach their potential, weaving in stories from mentoring matches throughout the night. It's a format the organization has leaned on before — last year's 25th Anniversary Celebration featured its own silent auction, with organizers noting at the time that the “silent auction is open for supporters in and out of the ballroom,” per the same bigstri.org account from its September 2025 newsletter.
This year's ball effectively serves as a follow-up chapter to that milestone celebration, continuing the organization's push to fund one-to-one mentoring relationships across the Triangle. With dancing scheduled to close out the night at 11 p.m., the Big Night Ball caps a evening designed to keep the spotlight on the mentors and young people the fundraiser is meant to support.
