Local restaurants, beverage distributors and caterers will set the tables at 6:30 p.m. June 4 at the Touchdown East Club at EverBank Field for the 25th Jacksonville “Foodfight.”
It’s an annual event that provides an opportunity to sample specialty dishes and signature cocktails while raising funds to fight hunger and support families through Lutheran Social Services of Northeast Florida and the Nourishment Network of regional food banks.
Since 1989, the event has raised more than $1 million. In addition to food and drinks, the event will include entertainment by The Band Be Easy.
Tickets are $60 per person in advance, $70 at the door. VIP tickets are available for $100 per person. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit JacksonvilleFoodFight.org.
Students receive Meninak scholarships
Meninak presented $25,000 in scholarships to five area high school students Monday.
The group has awarded $475,000 in leadership grants to 95 high school students in the program’s 19 years.
This year’s recipients were selected based on financial need, academic potential and participation in the Youth Leadership Jacksonville Program.
The grants may be used to help the students attend an accredited four-year college or university of their choosing. The scholarships are made possible through donations to the Foundation Scholarship Fund by club members.
‘A Night at Roy’s’ benefits Burr Foundation
The Monique Burr Foundation for Children recently hosted “A Night at Roy’s” to benefit the organization’s Child Safety Matters program, a bullying and child abuse prevention education program. The sell-out crowd at Roy’s Restaurant in Jacksonville Beach dined on food prepared under the direction of chef Roy Yamaguchi.
Ed Burr, chair of the foundation’s board of directors, said the program reached 1 million children in Florida in 2014.
The title sponsor was the Kent and Christie Sterman Foundation. The event attracted its largest crowd in its 13-year history.
'Miracle in May’ benefits local pediatric patients
Millions of people nationwide are working together through “Miracle in May” to help children in their communities by supporting Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.
In Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia, the hospitals raise funds that help the pediatric programs at UF Health Jacksonville and Wolfson Children’s Hospital.
Through May 31, donations can be made at participating partners’ retail locations of Ace Hardware, Carmike Cinemas, Costco, Kroger, Publix, Walmart and Sam’s Club.
Donations help purchase medical equipment, fund research grants and educational programs, and provide toys for the children at the hospitals.
For more information, visit CMNJax.com.
Free dental clinic opens Thursday
Community Health Outreach will celebrate the grand opening of its Healing Hands Clinic in West Jacksonville at 10:30 a.m. Thursday. The clinic is the only free dental facility for nearly 200,000 qualified low-income adults in Duval County.
The clinic was built through fundraising and in-kind donations. It’s equipped with six dental stations, six primary-care medical exam rooms, laboratory, sterilization room and administrative offices.
Community Health Outreach expects the clinic to serve about 5,000 patients this year. At capacity, the clinic will be capable of serving as many as 20,000 patients each year.
The clinic already has a waitlist for its services. New patients must complete a pre-qualification questionnaire to join the waitlist.
Steve Burnett, executive director of Community Health Outreach, said the benefit of having access to dental care for low-income individuals extends beyond their immediate procedural needs.
“Proper dental care can improve an individual’s overall health, self-esteem and even employability,” he said.
The Healing Hands Clinic is located at 5126 Timuquana Road, near Jacksonville Naval Air Station.
While the clinic does not discriminate against any patient, it does offer preference to military veterans.
Monetary donations can be made at chojax.org/donate/.
Partners in the clinic include The Weaver Family Fund, The Haskell Co., Rotary Club of North Jacksonville and St. Peter’s Episcopal Church.
Walmart supports Sulzbacher Center
Walmart and the Walmart Foundation over the past year gave more than $1.47 billion in cash and in-kind contributions to support social and environmental work.
In Florida, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation donated more than $82 million, supporting nonprofits including the Sulzbacher Center in Jacksonville, enabling the center to serve thousands of meals to those in need.
The nonprofit received a $40,000 grant last year from the Walmart Foundation that was used to buy fresh vegetables and fruit, rice and pasta, meat, poultry and seafood.
“This funding is vital to helping ensure our ability to serve meals to our 350 residents each day and to more than 200 individuals in hardship who come to our door hungry,” said Cindy Funkhouser, Sulzbacher Center president and CEO.
Donate at Fresh Market to help diabetes research
The Fresh Market will celebrate the 21st anniversary of its annual “Hope Floats” Sidewalk Sale from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. May 29-31 to benefit Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
Each of The Fresh Market’s stores will offer picnic-style food and beverage items for a $2 donation.
The stores will donate all of the funds from the three-day sale to the foundation to support its research efforts.
The Fresh Market also is hosting a Sneaker Sale campaign through May 31. Customers can make a donation by purchasing green paper sneakers at checkout counters to show support.
The Fresh Market to date has raised more than $4 million for diabetes research through its annual Paper Sneaker and Sidewalk Sale, Wine Gala program, corporate donations and other fundraising events.