Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
We inform. You decide.
Thursday, March 28, 2024
NEWS  |  CAMPUS

Taste of Greater Gainesville hosts its ninth annual fundraising event in O’Connell Center

Taste1

Chef Nester Espartero of Volcanic Sushi + Sake celebrates his team's Iron Chef victory at Tastes of Greater Gainesville 2018.

Taste of Greater Gainesville held its ninth annual fundraising event in the Exactech Arena at the O’Connell Center on Sunday evening. Each year the event raises money for four nonprofit organizations helping children in the Gainesville area.

This year the benefiting charities were the Child Advocacy Center, PACE Center for Girls - Alachua, Ronald McDonald House Charities of North Central Florida and Tyler’s Hope for a Dystonia Cure.

Sherry Houston, executive director of Ronald McDonald House Charities of North Central Florida, says it is an honor to work with the three other charities for the event.

Taste2

Abby Gilkey, a member of the Stewart's Catering team, hands a prepared plate to Chef Jenny Dorsey for judging.  

“Rarely do you see four charities come together, and the collaboration is much more powerful,” Houston said. “Who doesn’t love to eat and drink and try different restaurants? The fellowship of people in Gainesville is powerful.”

The event features tastings from 40 food vendors, an Iron Chef competition and a silent auction to benefit the four charities.

This is the first time the event was held in the O’Connell Center.

Catherine Perkinson, event coordinator for Taste of Greater Gainesville, says moving the event from its previous location at the Hilton UF Conference Center Hotel to the O’Connell Center was an improvement.

The size of the O’Connell Center allowed for more people, more vendors and the space to do live video production of the Iron Chef competition, Perkinson said.

The Iron Chef competition is a highlight of the event for most guests, Perkinson said.

In the competition, three local chefs create an appetizer, dessert and entree plate using a secret ingredient. The winner earns the title of Gainesville Iron Chef. This year’s secret ingredient was citrus.

Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox

Scott Costello, owner of Advantage Publishing Inc. and founder of Taste of Greater Gainesville, created the charity after attending many other charity events through his company.

“We attended over 200 events a year, and I started making lists of things I would do if I did an event,” Costello said. “Instead of trying to change existing organizations, I decided to create my own based on charities I cared about and the things I would enjoy doing at events the most.”

Rick Staab, founder of Tyler’s Hope for a Dystonia Cure, said the awareness the event creates and the dollars raised help his organization to treat kids locally.

“It’s been really impactful on us,” Staab said. “It’s the largest thing that we benefit from outside of our own events.”

Follow Sloan Savage on Twitter@sloanasavageand contact her atssavage@alligator.org.

Support your local paper
Donate Today
The Independent Florida Alligator has been independent of the university since 1971, your donation today could help #SaveStudentNewsrooms. Please consider giving today.

Powered by SNworks Solutions by The State News
All Content © 2024 The Independent Florida Alligator and Campus Communications, Inc.