The seventh annual Taster’s Choice fundraiser for the Eunice Community Health Center is scheduled 6 to 9 p.m. Feb. 22 at the LSUE Acadian Center.
Yancy Fontenot, center director, said, “This is very important to keep the doors open and continue to provide assistance to the people in need.”
Last year Eunice Community Health Center filled 236,941 prescriptions, Fontenot said. The center served about 1,700 patients, she said.
Patients include the uninsured, under-insured and the elderly, she said.
Besides a free pharmacy, the center offers low-cost laboratory work, vaccinations and basic health care with a nurse practitioner.
“Each year the clinic continues to advance its mission for the low income, the uninsured working, under-insured people, and the self-pay patients being discharged from the hospital that can’t afford their medications,” Fontenot wrote in a letter about the center.
Registration is $25. The categories are Professional and Amateur and divisions are General entrée, Seafood, Wild game, Side dish and Dessert. Chefs are asked to prepare 450 serving off site and be ready to serve at 5 p.m.
The entry deadline is Feb. 20.
Other details are available by calling 337-457-1205.
Tickets are $25 each and are available at the center and Maple Avenue Pharmacy. Donation level tickets are: Gold, $2,500 for 15 VIP tickets, reserved table with a bottle of wine; Purple, $1,000 for 10 VIP tickets, reserved table with a bottle of wine; and Green, $500 for five VIP tickets, reserved table with a bottle of wine.
Entertainment will be Geno Delafose and French Rockin’ Boogie.
Dishes served at past event events included crawfish, deer chili, sweet potato bisque and sauce piquant.
Donation also are sought for the live and silent auction.
The event is the kickoff to the Eunice Mardi Gras celebrations, and the cooking competition is also the biggest fundraiser for the clinic. More than 400 people attended last year’s event, and more than $10,000 was raised.
Last year, 24 cooking teams prepared 29 dishes for the event, including tamales, jambalaya, gumbos, deer chili, pineapple cake and mini brownie cupcakes.