Catholic Charities regional agency Men Who Cook will feed the need

BOARDMAN

Catholic Charities Regional Agency will host its seventh annual Men Who Cook fundraiser from 6 to 10 p.m. April 20 at Antone’s Banquet Center. Todd and Julie Sardich are 2012 co-chairs of the event.

Casino Cuisine, this year’s theme, will feature local celebrity men cooking their favorite dishes for patrons to sample. Some of the chefs this year are state Sen. Joe Schiavoni; Bob Hannon of United Way; John McNally, Mahoning County commissioner; Judge Gene Donofrio, Daniel Yemma, Mahoning County treasurer; Al Blank, president and COO of First Place Bank; the Rev. John Jerek of the Diocese of Youngstown; newly elected Mahoning County Sheriff Jerry Greene; the Rev. John Keehner and Damon Maloney and Ryan Halicki of WYTV.

Judges will include Judges Kay Woods and Maureen Sweeney; Carol Holmes, wife of McDonald Mayor Glenn Holmes (who also will participate as a chef); Kirstie Zontini of WYTV and Roxanne Sebest, WKBN/Fox.

The top prizes for the chefs are Judge’s Choice and the popular People’s Choice awards, all done in the spirit of fun to raise money for Catholic Charities’ Emergency Financial Assistance program. The program helps those in the community during a crisis such as rent evictions, utility shutoffs, certain prescriptions, clothing and food when the funds are available.

Tickets are for sale at $50 per person, which includes food, open bar and a door prize entry ticket. Various prizes will be offered through the night and the main raffle prize is an all-expense-paid getaway to Atlantic City for two. Raffle tickets cost $10 each and can be purchased at the agency anytime or the night of the event. The winner need not be present at the event.

For information on buying tickets contact Joanna Parker at 330-744-3320 or jparker@ccregional.org. Also, sponsors for the event and donations for the auctions are still needed.

Major event sponsors to date are The DeBartolo Corporation and Drs. James and Cynthia Kravec and their children. Other leading sponsors are First Place Bank, Humility of Mary Health Partners, Drs. Thomas and Danielle Macabobby and KPMG LLP. Home Savings and Loan and the WC Zabel co. are significant contributors of materials that are important to the event’s success.

The agency served more than 20,000 people in 2011 and receives 80 to 100 calls a day at each site. Men Who Cook is the major fundraiser for the program. People of all walks of faith are eligible for assistance, not just Catholics.