Chefs lend a dish for fundraiser in N. Lima

October 5, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

NORTH LIMA

Johnna Parke remembers many Sunday afternoons savoring her grandmother’s homemade meals.

“You had to be there at noon or you got the dickens,” recalled Parke, a 30-year chef who is the main cook for Das Dutch Village Inn in Columbiana.

On Thursday, though, the last thing she needed to worry about was a scolding. Instead, Parke received many accolades for her roasted red-pepper soup and scalloped onions, which were part of Thursday’s Harvest of Hope 2012 event at Common Ground Church Community, 2310 W. South Range Road.

She was one of eight area chefs to take part in the two-hour fundraiser, in its second year, to benefit Goodness Grows, the church’s nonprofit agriculture outreach group founded in 2007.

Goodness Grows works through on-site growing areas in the Valley to transform people and neighborhoods through agriculture.

Helping Parke was Jonathan Raynes, an assistant chef at Das Dutch Village.

Between 250 and 300 people enjoyed a variety of foods, including slow-roasted pork with bourbon berry barbecue sauce, courtesy of Rory Cummings, chief cook and chef with Carmella’s Cafe in Boardman.

“I began cooking when I was 18, for about 14 years now,” said Cummings, who also had apple and dark-chocolate bread pudding topped with a spice-rum glaze, as well as pork on a bacon-and-cheddar crustini, which is a thin baked or toasted bread.

Before his career at Carmella’s, Cummings worked at The Blue Wolf Tavern and Caffe Capri Italian Bar & Grille, both in Boardman, and the former Bobby D’s restaurant in Youngstown.

Also on hand were Cummings’ wife, Laura Cummings, and assistant chef Nathan Daugherty. Laura Cummings’ parents, Ed and Betty Ahlswede, own Carmella’s.

Last year, Goodness Grows, which also works with high-school students with special needs, hosted a community-supported agriculture program to provide more families with locally grown healthful foods. The organization also built two neighborhood gardens in Youngstown, noted Meagan Tehua, director.

Goodness Grows is teaching many Leetonia High School students about seeding, harvesting and other aspects of gardening and food preparation, noted the Rev. Steve Fortenberry, Common Ground’s pastor and a Goodness Grows founder.

“When we started our nonprofit, we wanted to be a blessing to our community,” the Rev. Mr. Fortenberry said.

The Harvest of Hope gathering also featured personal testimonials touting Goodness Grows, as well as a silent auction.