Staff Report
The eighth annual Taster’s Choice fundraiser for the Eunice Community Health Center is scheduled 6 to 9 p.m. Feb. 7 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.”
The Eunice Community Health Center fills more than 200,000 prescriptions year and serves hundreds of 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 said.
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 (1-2 ounce saming serving) off site and be ready to serve at 5:30 p.m.
The entry deadline is Monday.
Other details are available by calling 337-457-1205.
There are 20 or so entries thus far, however Fontenot is looking for much more. She said, “We usually have a good number of vendors. We are looking for more.”
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, seafood pasts, pot roasted duck, shrimp and okra gumbo, beef and sausage pork jambalaya, red beans and rice, sauce piquant, cupcakes and more.
Donations 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.