{"id":11958,"date":"2015-01-22T16:10:25","date_gmt":"2015-01-22T21:10:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/?p=11958"},"modified":"2015-01-22T16:10:25","modified_gmt":"2015-01-22T21:10:25","slug":"11958","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/2015\/01\/22\/11958\/","title":{"rendered":"Junior League\u2019s 32nd Annual Taste of the Town raises $133,000; Date and chairs announced for 2015 event"},"content":{"rendered":"

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FORT MYERS,\u00a0Fla. (Jan. 22, 2015) \u2013 The\u00a0Junior League of\u00a0Fort\u00a0Myers, Inc.<\/a>\u00a0announces its\u00a032nd<\/sup>\u00a0Annual Taste\u00a0of the Town<\/a>\u00a0raised the second highest tally in the history of the event bringing in $133,000.<\/p>\n

The Junior League\u2019s Taste of the Town is Southwest Florida\u2019s original \u201ctaste\u201d event and one of the largest outdoor food and entertainment festivals. The 2014 event attracted nearly 15,000 attendees. Funds from this one-day annual event benefit the JLFM, whose volunteer mission provides thousands of dollars annually in volunteer services and donations to programs supporting women and children in the region\u00a0including the Junior League\u2019s national program Kids in the Kitchen to help fight childhood obesity, the\u00a0<\/em>ongoing work with at-risk girls in the juvenile justice system, as well as work throughout the community in partnership with many organizations through the League\u2019s Helping Hands\u00a0program, which provides volunteer woman-power to organizations such as Big Brother Big Sisters, the Abuse Counseling & Treatment Shelter, Early Learning Coalition, the Supporting Independent Young Adults organization and many more.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The previous year\u2019s event raised just more than $114,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cSupporting the community never tasted so good,\u201d said Sasha Warren, 2014-2015 president of the JLFM. \u201cWe cannot thank our participating restaurants, attendees and sponsors for making this year\u2019s event so successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Plans are already underway for this year\u2019s event which will once again be held at JetBlue Park, the Boston\u00a0Red Sox\u2019s 106-acre Spring Training and Player Development Complex, located at 11500 Fenway South Drive in Fort Myers on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2015.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s Taste of the Town co-chairs are familiar faces. Karen Hutto and\u00a0Shirley Snyder McLaren co-chaired the inaugural Taste of the Town at JetBlue Park in 2013.<\/p>\n

Originally from Baton Rouge, La., Hutto moved to Fort Myers in 1991. She serves as director of operations for Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall. For 11 years, she owned and operated her own catering and event company The Flying Pig. She has been a Junior League member since 2002 and has served on the Taste of the Town committee numerous times in different capacities. She has also served on the boards of Gulf Coast Symphony and The Heights Foundation.<\/p>\n

Snyder McLaren was born and raised in Southwest Florida.\u00a0She received her bachelor\u2019s degree in English from the University of South Florida and a master\u2019s in accounting and taxation from Florida Gulf Coast University. Her professional background includes accounting, tax planning and management.\u00a0She joined the Junior League in 1997, and her volunteer roles have included president, president-elect, finance vice president, treasurer, cookbook chair, cookbook treasurer, cookbook committee, asset manager, community project chair, parliamentarian, as well as serving on the Taste of the Town committee for several years.<\/p>\n

According to the Junior League Taste of the Town committee, it\u2019s not too early for local restaurants to reserve their spots to showcase\u00a0their\u00a0fare\u00a0in\u00a0the\u00a02015 Taste of\u00a0the\u00a0Town. Interested restaurants and vendors may\u00a0contact the JLFM at 239-277-1197 or\u00a0totrestaurants@jlfm.org<\/a><\/span>.\u00a0Space is limited to 50 restaurants.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis event is so much more than a fundraiser; it\u2019s a win-win for our community,\u201d Warren added. \u201cTaste of the Town promotes and supports local businesses and the musical arts, creates resources for community service and brings our community together.\u201d<\/p>\n

A\u00a0member\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0Association of\u00a0Junior\u00a0Leagues\u00a0International,\u00a0Inc., the\u00a0Junior\u00a0League\u00a0of\u00a0Fort\u00a0Myers,\u00a0Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit\u00a0organization made up of\u00a0women\u00a0committed to promoting\u00a0voluntarism, developing the potential of\u00a0women\u00a0and improving\u00a0the\u00a0community\u00a0through the\u00a0effective\u00a0action\u00a0and leadership of\u00a0trained volunteers.\u00a0Its\u00a0purpose\u00a0is exclusively\u00a0educational and\u00a0charitable.\u00a0The JLFM is also a granting organization, providing mini-grants to organizations through out Southwest Florida\u2019s five-county area to programs that create better life outcomes for our area\u2019s youth. JLFM memberships are open to all women aged 21 and older of all races, religions and national origin who demonstrate an interest in and commitment to voluntarism.\u00a0For\u00a0more\u00a0information\u00a0about\u00a0the JLFM\u00a0League,\u00a0call\u00a0239-277-1197 or\u00a0visit\u00a0www.jlfm.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For more information about the annual Taste of the Town, call 239-277-1197 or email\u00a0tasteofthetown@jlfm.org<\/a>. For ongoing updates on Taste of the Town, visit\u00a0www.jlfmtaste.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FORT MYERS,\u00a0Fla. (Jan. 22, 2015) \u2013 The\u00a0Junior League of\u00a0Fort\u00a0Myers, Inc.\u00a0announces its\u00a032nd\u00a0Annual Taste\u00a0of the Town\u00a0raised the second highest tally in the history of the event bringing in $133,000.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,1],"tags":[3077,887,73,2397,29,80,284,663,3088,664,2402,2403,665,3923,3924,3925,2405,3097,3926,16,3927,716,672,1416,2348,1297,1689,909,2595,19,548,673,2410,3928,3929,2596,3108],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11958"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11958"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11958\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}