Dakota Hope will hold its ninth annual fundraising banquet Sept. 21 at the North Dakota State Fair Event Center in Minot.

A second banquet night will be held Sept. 22 at the Mountrail County South Complex in Stanley.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m. in Minot and 6 p.m. in Stanley. Dinner is scheduled at 6:30 p.m. for both venues.

Dakota Hope will host one of the youngest speakers on reproductive issues, Rebekah Hagan, on both evenings. Raised in a Christian home where abortion was never discussed, Hagan’s role in the pro-life movement was unplanned and fueled, instead, by firsthand experience. She became pregnant at 17 with her son, Eli, and later with a second child while in her first year of college.

Feeling ashamed and fearing that she would lose her family’s support and have to drop out of school, Hagan thought raising two children alone would be impossible. At just over seven weeks pregnant, she began a medication abortion that would later change her life.

Her story, however, did not end after taking the abortion pill. Minutes after leaving the clinic, she experienced a radical change of heart and turned to the internet to search for a way out. Feeling determined to reverse her mistake, Hagan underwent what most thought would be an impossible attempt to save her baby.

At age 20, she began speaking across the United States and sharing her own story of hope and redemption, which has caught the attention of both local and national media, as well as religious and secular organizations, including Vice News HBO, Focus On The Family and World Magazine.

A passionate advocate for grace-centered outreach, Hagan uses her story to unravel the mindset of women in unplanned pregnancies and to equip and encourage others to lead with hope and compassion.

She is a graduate of William Jessup University, and she and her family reside in Roseville, Calif., where she works for her local pregnancy center.

Please RSVP by Sept. 7 to your table host or register for the banquet at dakotahope.org. Live -streaming of the Sept. 21 banquet is available for those who wish to participate from home. Upon registration, a link will be sent to access the event. For more information, call 852-4675.

Dakota Hope Clinic is the only life-affirming pregnancy help center in northwestern North Dakota. The Christian non-profit organization was formed to help women and men involved in an unintended pregnancy.The clinic reports more than 90% of its pregnant clients have made a choice for life since opening in 2013. All services at Dakota Hope Clinic are free and confidential.