The 11th Annual Taste of the Nation raised more than $80,000 for hunger relief organizations. More than 1,000 people sampled food and wine from nearly 50 of the area’s finest chefs, restaurants and wine distributors during the benefit at the Galleria at Erieview.
The event was sponsored by the Greater Cleveland Restaurant Association. The funds raised will be distributed to Northcoast Food Rescue, The Hunger Network of Greater Cleveland and The Cleveland Foodbank.
The Cuyahoga County Community Mental Health Board presented the second annual Helping Hand Awards at its 30th anniversary celebration in June.
Those groups and organizations receiving honors included: Nancy Fitch, Cleveland, the Consumer Involvement award; Harvey Snider, Pepper Pike, Family Involvement award; the Pilot Managed Care Program, a joint project of the Jewish Family Service Association, the West Side Community Mental Health Center and Hill House, Agency/Program award; Lillie Torrence, Cleveland, Ecumenical award and The Lutheran Messenger, Media award.
Contributions to the annual Cleveland-area United way increased for the second year in a row, marking the first consecutive campaign increase in nearly a decade.
Volunteer Campaign Chair Farah M. Walters, chairman and CEO of University Hospitals Health System, announced the final figure: $42,201,209. More than 150,000 people contributed to the campaign.
In dark, rainy weather, 3,000 walkers raised nearly $400,000 to help in the fight against birth defects and infant mortality in the March of Dimes WalkAmerica program, the largest walk event in the country.
Shearer’s Foods joined the Make-A-Wish Foundation by donating a percentage of sales on all Grandma Shearer’s brand products sold during the month of May.
The Ohio Educational Credit Union Inc. awarded three $1,000 scholarships to deserving students as part of the organization’s 65th annual meeting celebration earlier this year.
John Glenn High School senior, Brandon Larrick of Cambridge; Trinity High School senior Kathryn Huter of Cleveland; and Charles F. Brush High School senior, Sarah Ball of South Euclid received the scholarships.
Cleveland Rockers’ guard Marci Alberts and assistant coach Mike Wilhelm joined Wayne Puntel, president of Audio Craft and the creator of Albums for Alzheimer’s, in distributing stereo equipment to area nursing homes and Alzheimer’s day-care centers earlier this year.
Nearly 400 pieces of used stereo equipment had been collected for the program.
The Cleveland City Schools received a check for $205,632 earlier this year as part of a two-year grant totaling $878,904 to expand after-school care for low-income working families. The funds came from the Ohio Department of Human Services and Education and were made available to the district through an initiative launched by the Ohio Hunger Task Force.
Northcoast Food Rescue received a donation of more than 9,500 pounds of food from the U.S. Coast Guard, earlier this year. The donation came from Port Security Unit 309 and the Port Security Unit Training Detachment, both stationed at Camp Perry in Port Clinton, Ohio.
