On March 11, the Bakersfield Marriott Hotel on Truxtun Ave will be home to the Bakersfield semiannual mini Comic-Con. The minimum admission fee will be $1 for those 8 years old and older. Parking is free however. All of the proceeds from the event will go to the Bakersfield Rescue Mission.

Steve Wyatt, the “promotor, boss, and toilet washer,” organized the first mini Comic-Con to help raise money for the Bakersfield Museum of Art. Two years later he organized the event again to help raise funds for the Boys and Girls Club of Bakersfield. Wyatt said that he will stick with the rescue mission. His goal is to have 2000 attendees, and raise anywhere between $3000-5000.

The rescue mission is an organization that helps the homeless. The mission feeds and shelters the homeless, as well as providing a multimedia service that they can use to earn their certificate from the skills that they learned from a voluntary instructor or a teacher. “Homelessness is a real problem. You know it, I know,” said Wyatt, “It’s a great cause. Not a good cause, a great cause.”

Wyatt has nearly experience on being nearly homelessness. He was lucky that his mother had an extra bedroom that he and his wife could live in. He said that in the 1980s the government would give out “a block of cheese, and some flour.” Wyatt would stand in line to get those supplies.

Using a convention for a charity is not foreign to Wyatt because last year, for a week, the money that people used to buy their ticket early for Bakersfield Comic-Con was instead donated to a hurricane fund.

The theme of the event is charity. The guest stars that will be attending are not getting paid. Wyatt explained that they are using their status to draw attention the to the convention. The people that are going to be working at the event are doing it free since it is for charity. While there is still going to be a costume contest the prize will not be money. The Marriott is also being charitable as they offered Wyatt a slot at half the regular rate.

One of the notable guests includes Lana Wood who portrayed Plenty O’Toole, the love interest of James Bond in the 1971 movie “Diamonds Are Forever”. Margret Kelly, who performed the live action sequences for Tinker Bell in the animated movie “Peter Pan”, will also be there. Scott Koblish who worked for Marvel and DC comic will be there. He is notable for his artistic contributions for the Deadpool series. As the event draws closer he would reveal who else is going to the event.

“Your level of success in life should never be money, it should be happiness,” Wyatt said. He really feels like he is supposed to help people. “Now is the time to give back.”