A local organization that focuses on helping the youth of the community will host its annual lobster sale, which will help raise money for scholarships.

The Kiwanis Club of Washington will host its 31^st annual lobster sale on Nov. 8, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., said Stuart O’Neal, club president. The Club will have around 150 lobsters available for $18 each in the parking lot of Inner Banks Dental and will serve them either live or steamed, according to the preference of those who purchase them. Originally, 600 lobsters were ordered, but between 400 and 425 of those are spoken for, O’Neal said.

“Well steam them right on site for you,” O’Neal said.

The Washington Kiwanis Club, a community service club founded in 1947, focuses mainly on raising money for community, families and projects, O’Neal said. The primary goal of its fundraising, however, is to provide much-needed scholarships to students in Beaufort County, said Bill Outland, a 30-year member of the club who has cooked lobster for the fundraiser since its inception.

“This is one of our biggest fundraisers,” Outland said. “We donate to about 15 organizations that help children, but our main focus is scholarships. We’ve made money every year except one, and we pass this money on in the form of scholarships for students in each of the schools in Beaufort County. We’ve helped a lot of students go to college that couldn’t have gone otherwise.”

Back when the sale started over 30 years ago, the lobsters were sold for $8 each, which has changed over the years, Outland said. The Club orders the lobsters from Maine through Evan’s Seafood a week in advance, and the lobsters are brought in the night before the sale. The Club came up with the idea of having the lobster sale due to the need of having a strong fundraiser, Outland said.

“We just needed a fundraiser to make some money because everything we make we donate it to the youth of Beaufort County,” Outland said. “We have a golf tournament and a couple of small fundraisers, and we do the Christmas parade, but this is one of our biggest fundraisers of the year.  The reason we started was looking for a way to raise more money for scholarships. We feel like the youth is our future, and that’s where we put our emphasis.”