Award-winning Gospel group The Nelons will perform at First Baptist Church of Springfield on Saturday at 7 p.m., with the proceeds of the concert going toward the Treutlen House.

Mose Mock, Treutlen House board chairperson, said the idea was suggested by Bobby Smith, who also secured the sponsorship for the event from Chick-fil-a.

“Every penny from ticket sales and donations will go to the home,” Mock said.

The Nelons have won six Dove awards, and they have been nominated for three Grammys.

“What got me interested in this particular group is they work very closely with the Truett Cathy Foundation,” Mock said, noting the philanthropic arm  of Chick-fil-a. “He’s got his own children’s home outside of Atlanta. We feel like there’s a real good connection there.”

He said the event is part of a continuing effort to raise funds for the home.

“Last year we had incredible fundraising, but it costs money every day to operate,” he said. “The home has cut everything we can. We’re running mean and lean, I hate to say the word mean, we’re running kind and lean. We’re getting by. We’re not doing anything extravagant. We’ve made a lot of changes. We were able to get on with the USDA Snap program, which saves us a lot of money on groceries.”

Treutlen House’s board of directors set a budget to raise $100,000 this year in the wake of last year’s emergency fundraising campaign.

“We’re doing our part to be good stewards and proactive,” Mock said. “We’ve been very blessed this year — we’ve already raised probably $18,000 already this year.”

He said it costs approximately $100,000, plus the state per diems, to run the home.

“State per diems have been cut a lot, and the children coming into that care has been cut,” Mock said. “We’re starting to buck the trend because there have been so many homes around us close. There have been three homes within 50 miles of us that have been closed in the last year. We want to be one that’s standing at the end of the day. We feel like the community wants it, too.”

Along with the concert there are other fundraisers planned for the coming months. The annual golf tournament will be held in October and there are plans for a dinner theater to be held in October as well.

“Our goal is to make that Treutlen House a home,” Mock said. “It is their home, and we want to make it as much like home and as much like a family setting as we possibly can.”

Tickets are available for the concert and with $10 suggested as the price. For more information about tickets call the Treutlen House at 754-9797.