VALLEY GRANDE — The Valley Grande City Council voted unanimously Monday evening to give a $5,000 dollar donation to the Selma-Dallas County Sav-A-Life crisis pregnancy center.

The money would be given to the Sav-A-Life bass tournament fundraiser, scheduled to take place on Saturday, March 22 at the Selma City Marina. Since all expenses for hosting the annual tournament are covered by the participant’s entry fees, donations to the tournament would be put toward daily operating expenses and upcoming projects at Sav-A-Life.

Moments after the conclusion of the city council meeting, Jennifer Dobbs, executive director of the Selma-Dallas County Sav-A-Life, said the donation the council approved was beyond anything she had hoped for beforehand.

“I really didn’t know what to expect, I was just planning to come here and appeal for some money, maybe $100 dollars,” Dobbs said after the meeting. “I had no idea it would be $5,000. I can’t form any initial thoughts, honestly. I’m just overwhelmed and very grateful for the support of the city.”

Dobbs said the donation would help the non-profit Christian organization as they prepare to purchase a new ultrasound machine, while simultaneously looking for a new and larger location for their office.

“All of these funds are going to go back into the center,” Dobbs said. “Hopefully, we are going to get a new location and be able to offer more services to our community. In the expansion of our center, one of the things we want to do is to get an ultrasound machine. It’s a great tool to be able to help [those who come to the center] make their decision.”

Before Monday’s council meeting, Dobbs said the organization had raised the majority of the money needed for the ultrasound, which she said generally cost $38,000 dollars.

Dobbs said Sav-A-Life is able to offer a multitude of crisis pregnancy services, including pregnancy tests, parenting classes and options counseling, because of donations from individuals, churches and fundraisers.

“We see the community is behind us, and we see this is what they want. They see we are making a difference,” Dobbs said. “And we want them to be able to make an educated decision about their pregnancy. It’s easy to say you want to do something, but you have to know the facts to make the best decision possible.”

Valley Grande Mayor Wayne Labbe said the city’s donation would come from $10,000 dollars the city had designated for donations in its annual budget, saying he believed the opportunity to help Sav-A-Life obtain an ultrasound machine was something the council could not pass up.

“Anytime you’ve seen that ultrasound, it certainly makes a difference to the mother,” Labbe said. “This is so important, because that’s our heritage, folks. When we leave here, those children are our heritage.”