United Way held their annual tasting fundraiser, Sip & Savor on Friday, March 1st. 280 Guests joined United Way at Arrowwood Tennis Center to raise money to support our community. Proceeds stay in Douglas and Pope Counties to fund grants and programs that make a difference in health, education or financial stability. The event had live music by Blonde and the Bohunk and AMAZING food and beverage samples.
10 Local businesses made generous donations of food samples. Not only donating food for the event, but staff time needed to prep and prepare as well as serve event guests. A very special thanks goes out to these businesses: The Lure, Arrowwood, Papa K’s Rescue BBQ, Smokin’ Brew & ‘Ques, Cub Foods, Depot Smokehouse, Pioneer Grill, Qdoba, Longtrees Woodfire Grill and La Ferme. The nights spread included Fish Tacos, Chicken Gyros, Brisket, Nacho Bar, Steak Tacos, Walleye Cakes, Pork Belly Burnt Ends, mini-Cuban and Chipotle sandwiches, specialty cheeses and assorted appetizers.
Samples of beer, wine, spirits, mocktails, ready-to-drink and non-alcoholic beverages were donated from 19 different beverage vendors. These vendors also volunteered their time to support the event by serving products for the night. Vendors included: Copper Trail Brewing, Summer Lakes Beverage, Rolling Forks Vineyard, Carlos Creek Winery, Fulton Brewing, Odell Brewing Company, Thousand Lakes Brewing Co., Beverage Wholesalers, C&L Distributing, Breakthru Beverage, Phillips Wine & Spirits, Southern Glazers Wine & Spirits, Johnson Brothers Gallo, Wine Merchants, Paustic Wine Company, Cashwise and Burr Vineyards.
During the event guests were asked to come together to raise an additional $5,000 specifically for United Way food support programs. As guests enjoyed samples a live giving thermometer tracked donations made during the event. As those in attendance were able to enjoy the best our community offers in food and beverage, they lent a hand back to those who are faced with food insecurity. All donations received throughout the event go straight to the United Way Food Drop and Backpack Attack.
· Backpack Attack provides a child friendly bag of food for elementary school students who need extra support on weekends.
· The Food Drop provides 2-3 bags of pantry staples for the month to registered families struggling with food insecurity.
A number of sponsors supported this event either through financial or in-kind donations. Thanks goes out to them: Arrowwood, Cashwise, Elden’s, Smokin’ Brews & ‘Ques, Knute Nelson, JS Event Rental, Vantage Bank, Viking Bank, Hilltop Lumber and Lennes Brothers Electric. Special thanks to top level sponsors Livewire Entertainment and Geneva Capital.
