Raise a Glass to Support Kids in Need with @feedhopenow Culinary Charity Gala @TasteCFL #tastecfl

There are few opportunities in which you find yourself in the same room with some of Central Florida’s most talented restaurants and chefs, local breweries, endless glasses of wine, and bottomless crafted cocktails – that is, unless you find yourself at the 2018 Taste! Central Florida event.

Over the past couple decades, Taste!, previously known as Taste of the Nation, has been dishing out some of Central Florida’s best all in the name to end childhood hunger. A volunteer led event, last year nearly $318,000 was raised – that’s over a million meals beneficiaries Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida and Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida were able distribute because of community support.

We have had the honor of attending !Taste for the past few years, and each year seems to be better than the last. Not only is it a great cause, but it’s also a great way to experience the food trends happening in your own backyard from restaurants such as Highball & Harvest, A Land Remembered, The Ravenous Pig, Urbain 40, Canvas. We always look forward to the lip-smacking list of CFL’s finest culinary and beverage talent including 60+ local chefs, mixologists, craft breweries, premium spirits, and wineries.

Taste! is full of flavor and fun, but one of our favorite highlights of the event is the Orlando World Center Marriott’s creative dessert stations. Over the years, towering pastries, decadent chocolate tarts, glazed fruit custards, or milkshakes and mad scientist test tube desserts have been served on conveyor belts, served up from a 50s themed diner scene, or transported overseas to a German-inspired tent  – and they never disappoint.

Not to be outdone, partnerships with Universal, Disney, and SeaWorld showcase some of their best and newest spots at Taste!, and we always love seeing the themes they choose each year. That’s one of the many reasons we love this event – there is always something new and interesting to do and see.

One of those favorites is the wine door. For a $25 donation, you can purchase a key that might open a door to nearly $2000 worth of wine, or if you want a bit more instant gratification, the wine toss is a fun way to try your luck. Feeling extra competitive? Every year, the silent auction at Taste! is loaded with everything from signed sports memorabilia and loaded gift baskets, to exotic trips and once-in-a-lifetime experiences to bid on. Best part, you can bid right from your phone and keep easily on those lots you want.

Break out your pearls and dancing shoes ladies and gentlemen, let’s together fund the fight to eradicate child hood hunger – YES WE CAN!!

Tickets are now on sale, and each one sold will provide nearly 700 meals for local kids, and in a community where 1 in 4 kids struggle to have enough to eat, that will make a big impact. To learn more, visit www.TasteCFL.org.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Food for Thought:

• In Central Florida, 1 in 6 people struggle with food insecurity.
• Approximately 498,000 individuals turn to Second Harvest’s food pantries and meal service programs to feed themselves and their family each year.
• 193,000 kids don’t know where their next meal is coming from.
• 1 in 4 kids in our community is at risk of going to bed hungry every night.
• 27% are children under the age of 18.
• 113 million more meals a year are needed to fill the hunger gap in our community.

Staff writer: Melissa Kear. Media Credit – Second Harvest Food Bank and The Bokeh Studio.

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