{"id":9315,"date":"2013-02-21T17:32:38","date_gmt":"2013-02-21T22:32:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/?p=9315"},"modified":"2013-02-21T17:32:38","modified_gmt":"2013-02-21T22:32:38","slug":"menu-donors-for-10th-annual-soup-kitchen-benefit-announced-sponsorships-and-tickets-still-available-for-march-5-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/2013\/02\/21\/menu-donors-for-10th-annual-soup-kitchen-benefit-announced-sponsorships-and-tickets-still-available-for-march-5-event\/","title":{"rendered":"Menu donors for 10th Annual Soup Kitchen Benefit announced; Sponsorships and tickets still available for March 5 event"},"content":{"rendered":"

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FORT MYERS, Fla. (Feb. 21, 2013) \u2013 Menu donors for this year\u2019s annual Soup Kitchen Benefit have been announced.<\/p>\n

Sam Galloway Jr. & Friends 10th Annual Soup Kitchen Benefit will be held Tuesday, March 5 at the Sam Galloway Ford dealership located at 1800 Boy Scout Drive. Cocktails will be served at 6 p.m. followed by dinner at 7 p.m. Maestro Andrew Kurtz will be conducting the Gulf Coast Symphony Orchestra performing Broadway show stoppers.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s menu, which is donated by local restaurants and individuals, includes appetizers from Sandy Stillwell of Sunshine Grille and Stillwell Enterprises, and Will and Andrea Prather of the Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre; barbeque chicken from Jim Bobs BBQ, coleslaw and sauce from Bill and Sally Davis of Hickory Bar-B-Que; barbeque pork and swamp cabbage from Wesley and Deanna Hansen; fried shrimp and cheese grits from John and Paul Browning of Three Fisherman Seafood Restaurant; gourmet meatloaf and mashed potatoes from Jordan Webster of J.G. Webster\u2019s Catering; fried chicken from Steve and Jeanne Sexton of the Alva Diner;\u00a0 peas and rice, corn bread and hot pepper sauce from Bill and Janice Barnwell of The Farmer\u2019s Market Restaurant; macaroni & cheese and green beans from Kim and Jack Avery of The Main Event Catering; collard greens from CCMI\u2019s Everyday Caf\u00e9 and Marketplace; decadent chocolate courtesy of Norman and Mary Love of Norman Love Confections; and homemade cookies from Uncle Charlie\u2019s Cookie Ministry.<\/p>\n

Last year\u2019s event sold out with more than 600 guests attending to help raise needed funds for Community Cooperative Ministries Inc.<\/a>, the umbrella agency for the Everyday Caf\u00e9s and Marketplaces, Meals on Wheels, Community Montessori Preschool and Social and Homeless Services.<\/p>\n

The goal of this annual event is to raise as much money as possible for local residents in need.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is our 10th<\/sup> year of dear friends and businesses joining together to help those less fortunate in our community,\u201d said Sam Galloway, Jr. \u201cI wish we didn\u2019t have to hold this event any longer and that hunger was not an issue in our community. Unfortunately, it is still a serious problem. More of our neighbors and their children are going to need our help, and I plan to help them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Impending changes to federal programs have the potential to seriously damage the availability of funds for those who need them the most, the working poor, children and the elderly. These fiscal changes will have a serious impact not only on the most vulnerable community members but also on CCMI and its partner agencies that rely on federal, state or county grants to operate services such as Meals on Wheels. Private donations and grants will become more and more important for CCMI to sustain its mission for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n

Galloway wants to ensure that CCMI can continue helping Lee County\u2019s growing population of hungry gain access to nutritious meals. Ten years ago, he gathered friends in the local restaurant community and beyond to donate their time and services toward a community fundraiser for local homeless and hungry. The event has grown each year with guests who come together for one evening in the Service Department of Galloway Ford. All the monies raised go directly to CCMI to help those in need in Lee County.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the money raised at last year\u2019s event, we have been able to continue serving our neighbors in need while developing new and innovative ways to fight hunger and homelessness,\u201d said Tracey Galloway, CEO of CCMI.<\/p>\n

Those things included expanding CCMI\u2019s social service programs to include comprehensive case coaching and education innovation classes, serving more schools last summer with CCMI\u2019s Mobile Food Pantry and adding more schools and students to its weekend backpack program. In the last year, CCMI has served 80,000 meals from its Fort Myers and Cape Coral Everyday Caf\u00e9s & Marketplaces, 105,000 meals to homebound Meals on Wheels customers and fed more than 1,500 students each school weekend through its emergency backpack and school pantry program.<\/p>\n

CCMI\u2019s Everyday Caf\u00e9 and Marketplace concept makes food more easily available to everyone in the community who is hungry. The market model also decreases the stigma associated with standing in line for a hot meal or groceries and reduces significant waste in the preselected grocery bag model.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can and did make a difference,\u201d said Sam Galloway. \u201cWhen hunger affects our community, it impacts every one of us in some way, and if every one of us does a small part to impact change, change will happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo dollars can feed a family for a day,\u201d he concluded. \u201cWe are all feeling the effects of this economy, but not doing anything for our local neighbors in need is not an option for me, and I can guarantee anyone who attends this event is truly making a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tax-deductible sponsorship opportunities and tables are available starting at $2,500. Individual tickets are $150 each. For more information or tickets, visit www.ccmileecounty.com<\/a> or call CCMI at 239-332-7687, ext. 100.<\/p>\n

CCMI is an innovative nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization made up of social service entrepreneurs fighting to end homelessness and hunger in our community. The agency provides more than 15,000 meals each month through its Everyday Cafes and Marketplaces and Meals on Wheels programs. CCMI also educates 40 children in its Community Montessori, offers homeless and comprehensive case coaching services through its United Way Resource Houses, oversees an emergency mobile food pantry and supplies weekend backpacks full of food to more than 2,500 children each school year.<\/p>\n

CCMI serves Fort Myers and the greater Lee County area, including Bonita Springs, Cape Coral and Lehigh Acres. CCMI works in partnership with United Way of Lee, Hendry and Glades, Harry Chapin Food Bank and various community foundations as well as collaborating with fellow community and service groups including The School District of Lee County and numerous churches, businesses and community support organizations.<\/p>\n

For more information, call 239-332-7687 or visit www.ccmileecounty.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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FORT MYERS, Fla. (Feb. 21, 2013) \u2013 Menu donors for this year\u2019s annual Soup Kitchen Benefit have been announced.<\/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":[27,300,301,28,29,30,302,65,68,303,69,70,304,305,16,19,72],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9315"}],"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=9315"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9315\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcreativepr.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}