Flavors Honorary Chairs Thom and Joyce DeVita, Chairwoman Karli Vazquez-Mendez and Honorary Chairs Joni and Al Goldberg. Photo provided by Munoz Photography
By Amy Woods
The Junior League of Boca Raton celebrated its ninth-annual Flavors event, known locally as the ultimate food and wine extravaganza. This year’s installment included more than 30 participating restaurants, dynamic live performances and a fashion show. A live auction offered patrons a chance to bid on delicious dinners, high-end jewelry and sports tickets. Nearly 750 attended.
“The proceeds of the Flavors event will continue to fund our mission and our work within the issues of hunger, child welfare and nonprofit support,” said Renata Sans de Negri, league president. “We look forward to hosting another tasty Flavors event in 2019.”
In other league news, the annual Day of Impact dedicated to improving the community was a success, with members completing nearly 490 volunteer hours with 12 nonprofits. Additionally, more than 15,000 diapers were deposited in the diaper bank for distribution to babies in need.
Summer camp at Spady delves into black history
Children and teens who arrive at the Spady Cultural Heritage Museum this summer for camp will forgo the usual park, pool and zoo experiences, opting instead to learn the arts, crafts and foods of African-American culture. The camp will feature creative teachers who will share how to install an exhibit, quilt and make meals all while imparting lessons of historical importance to the next generation.
The Youth Cultural Empowerment Camp will take place from 9 a.m. to noon Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. It begins June 26 and runs through Aug. 2. Cost is $50. The six-week intensive program focuses on building self-esteem and social responsibility, as well as enhancing the Palm Beach County School District’s black-history curriculum.
“We are trying to create a time and place for children to learn things they would only get from their elders,” said Tonya Akins, the museum’s youth coordinator. “Everyone should know about their heritage, how their grandparents and great-grandparents communicated, built and shared.”
Community Greening co-founder Matt Shipley accepts a check from Grass River Garden Club members Karen Muse (center) and Patsy Randolph. Photo provided
Grass River Garden Club presents three grants
The Grass River Garden Club has presented two grants totaling $12,000 to the Delray Beach Historical Society for a new white-picket fence and soil preparation for a garden area on North Swinton Avenue.
“We are grateful to the Grass River Garden Club for this significant contribution that will unify our multibuilding campus with the unique fencing that is a part of the historic Swinton corridor,” society Executive Director Winnie Diggans Edwards said.
Through another grant, the club will fund a second arboretum in Delray Beach to be identified by Community Greening, a local nonprofit, to which $5,000 was donated. Community Greening, founded in 2016, already has been responsible for planting more than 300 trees in the city. The new project will be in the area of Atlantic Avenue east of Interstate 95.
The club also has given a $500 grant to the Sandoway Discovery Center to pay for an educational outing for schoolchildren at the popular beachside campus on Ocean Boulevard. A check was presented by club Grant Committee Chairwoman Karen Muse to Sandoway Executive Director Danica Sanborn.
“We are pleased to make available this experience with the animals and plants along the ocean shore, especially for the many children here in Palm Beach County who live close to the ocean but have not had the experience to visit the beaches,” Sanborn said.
Billy and Shelly Himmelrich serve up goodness at Palm Beach Empty Bowls. Photo provided
Empty Bowls benefits county food bank
Hundreds gathered to “eat simply so others can simply eat” as they shared a communal meal of soup and bread at Palm Beach Empty Bowls. Proceeds — $107,000 — from the event benefited the Palm Beach County Food Bank and will help provide food at no cost to more than 115 agencies on the front lines of hunger.
For $25, patrons selected a handmade ceramic bowl and chose from more than four dozen soups prepared and donated by some of the area’s finest chefs, along with artisan breads donated by Old School Bakery.
Prior to the event, supporters gathered at the home of Michael and Debbie Pucillo to honor the organizers. The Pucillos, honorary committee chairs, welcomed guests while food bank Executive Director Karen Erren thanked everyone for helping the nonprofit collect and distribute more than 5 million pounds of food to at least 100,000 needy Palm Beach County residents last year.
Gleaning event gathers unmarketable crops
To benefit the Palm Beach County Food Bank, agents and affiliates of the Realtors of the Palm Beaches and the Greater Fort Lauderdale Young Professionals Network and their families worked on gleaning a cucumber farm in western Delray Beach. Gleaning is a food-recovery strategy that allows farmers to donate fresh crops that are deemed unmarketable but safe to eat and nutritious.
Send news and notes to Amy Woods at flamywoods@bellsouth.net
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