{"id":14253,"date":"2016-09-13T23:43:12","date_gmt":"2016-09-14T03:43:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/?p=14253"},"modified":"2016-09-13T23:43:12","modified_gmt":"2016-09-14T03:43:12","slug":"locals-invited-to-participate-in-this-years-best-of-taste-fundraiser-prior-to-taste-of-the-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/2016\/09\/13\/locals-invited-to-participate-in-this-years-best-of-taste-fundraiser-prior-to-taste-of-the-town\/","title":{"rendered":"Locals invited to participate in this year\u2019s Best of Taste fundraiser prior to Taste of the Town"},"content":{"rendered":"

Funds raised will benefit the Junior League of Fort Myers and the Red Sox Foundation<\/em>\"best-of-taste-in-the-park-1\"<\/a> \"best-of-taste-in-the-park-2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

FORT MYERS,\u00a0Fla. (Sept. 13, 2016) \u2013 The\u00a0Red Sox Foundation\u00a0and the Junior League of\u00a0Fort\u00a0Myers, Inc. are teaming up for the second annual Best of Taste in the Park fundraiser prior to the\u00a034th<\/sup>\u00a0Annual Taste\u00a0of the Town.<\/p>\n

During the Best of Taste in the Park,\u00a0attendees will be able to participate in judging offerings from participating restaurants to decide the \u201cPeople\u2019s Choice Award\u201d that will be showcased at the annual Taste of the Town.<\/p>\n

Best of Taste in the Park will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 17 at JetBlue Park, located at\u00a011500 Fenway South Drive in Fort Myers. The event will be capped at 200 attendees.<\/p>\n

Participating restaurants will host stations offering attendees tastings of their entries which will then be voted on by the public for the\u00a0\u201cPeople\u2019s Choice Award.\u201d\u00a0Dishes entered must be a dish the restaurant will be serving at Taste of the Town.<\/p>\n

In addition to the tastings and judging, attendees will enjoy complimentary beer and wine, craft spirit tastings, a silent auction with one-of-a-kind items, self-guided tours, raffle prizes and complimentary admission to Taste of the Town on Nov. 6.<\/p>\n

Tickets for\u00a0Best of Taste in the Park\u00a0are $75 each. The deadline for restaurants to participate is Sept. 23.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year everyone had a great time and left with full bellies thanks to the delicious food from our participating restaurants,\u201d said Katie Haas, Red Sox\u00a0vice president of Florida business operations. \u201cBest of all, funds raised from the event stay local to benefit the Red Sox Scholarship Fund in partnership with The Foundation for Lee County Public Schools, Inc., as well as the Junior League\u2019s volunteer services and donations to programs supporting women and children in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal of this event is to attract an audience of food connoisseurs and philanthropic-minded citizens who are looking for a unique night out not found anywhere else in Southwest Florida,\u201d said Laura Richardson, chair of Taste of the Town. \u201cThis event is a win-win for our local community.\u201d<\/p>\n

All funds raised at the event will be split between the Junior League of Fort Myers and the Red Sox Foundation to be given back to our local community. Last year\u2019s Best of Taste event raised $13,000.<\/p>\n

To date, the following restaurants have signed up to participate in Best of Taste in the Park with additional restaurants to be added: 11:Eleven Caf\u00e9, 1st<\/sup>\u00a0Street Deli, BJ\u2019s Restaurant, Connor\u2019s Steak & Seafood, Ee-To-Leet-Ke Grill, Famous Dave\u2019s, Love Boat Ice Cream, Lucky Mi, Mona Lisa Italian Restaurant, Norman Love Confections and The Melting Pot.<\/p>\n

Sponsors for\u00a0Best of Taste in the Park\u00a0<\/em>include Scanlon Auto Group, Seminole Casino Hotel Immokalee, Gulfshore Life, Suncoast Beverage Sales, Coastal Beverages, List Distillery and Key West Express.<\/p>\n

The\u00a034th<\/sup>\u00a0Annual Taste\u00a0of the Town,\u00a0Southwest Florida\u2019s original \u201ctaste\u201d event and one of the largest outdoor food and entertainment festivals,\u00a0will be\u00a0held at JetBlue Park on Sunday, Nov. 6.<\/p>\n

To purchase tickets for Best of Taste in the Park, visit\u00a0www.redsoxfoundation.org\/best-of-taste<\/a>\u00a0or email\u00a0jbpevents@redsox.com<\/a><\/u>.<\/p>\n

The Red Sox Foundation, one of the most successful in all of Major League Baseball, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official team charity of the Boston Red Sox. The Foundation\u2019s primary focus locally is in serving the health, education, recreation and social service needs of children and families across Southwest Florida.<\/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>.<\/u><\/p>\n

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

Funds raised will benefit the Junior League of Fort Myers and the Red Sox Foundation FORT MYERS,\u00a0Fla. (Sept. 13, 2016) \u2013 The\u00a0Red Sox Foundation\u00a0and the Junior League of\u00a0Fort\u00a0Myers, Inc. are…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,1],"tags":[5234,3531,6799,5236,6800,6801,6802,3239,3244,6803,75,6804,80,663,2403,6805,5246,6806,5247,6807,3536,6808,572,85,1382,6809,4742,1046,716,672,1689,19,3413,3106,3108],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14253"}],"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=14253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14253\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}