PICKENS — Blue Ridge Fest 2015 is scheduled for Friday, May 8, on the grounds of Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative in Pickens.

This year’s event will include the usual — a Beach Night show and dance and the Upstate’s largest classic-car cruise-in.

Underlying all the fun will be a serious purpose — the support of a dozen area human-help agencies. Those recipients were recently selected by an employee committee from among scores of applications that had been submitted.

The 12 organizations that will be funded in 2015 include:

Anderson County — Anderson Interfaith Ministries and The Development Center for Exceptional Children;

Greenville County — Hidden Treasure Christian School and North Greenville Food Crisis Ministry;

Oconee County — Dot’s Kitchen of Westminster, Fair Play Camp School, Oconee Presbyterian Service Fund and Rosa Clark Free Medical Clinic;

Pickens County — Prevent Child Abuse (a.k.a., The Parenting Place), Samaritan Free Health Clinic, The Dream Center and United Christian Ministries.

Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative president and CEO Charles Dalton said the charity-selection process was a difficult one.

“Our employee committee members really labored over the many worthy applications that were placed in their hands this time,” Dalton said. “As always, the intent is to fund agencies that are truly meeting desperate human needs here in the Blue Ridge service area.

“After all their deliberations, I believe the committee arrived at an excellent and representative list of those entities who are on the front lines of human compassion.”

The 2015 Beach Night entertainment has already been nailed down. Included in the lineup will be Johnny Tillotson, Shirley Alston Reeves and The Shirelles, and The Swingin’ Medallions.

In 2014, Blue Ridge Fest produced $172,000 in net proceeds, which was divided among the 12 charitable concerns. Since the fundraiser originated in 1998, a total of $1.8 million dollars has been realized and then donated to local aid organizations.