Supporters of Helping Hands dined out in style Friday evening at the sixth annual A Chef's Extravaganza.
Attendees assembled at Woodside Plantation Country Club for the seven-course gourmet meal prepared by coordinating chef Larry Carl of Trinity Lutheran Home and chefs Keith Cameron of the Reserve Club at Woodside Plantation, Keith Herron of Cafe on the Corner Catering, Greg Mueller of the Green Boundary Club, Jason Tufts of Woodside Plantation Country Club and Brandon Velie of Juniper Restaurant of Ridge Spring. Each chef prepared one course for the dinner, which had a Northern Italian theme this year.
"This is our annual fundraiser; we only have a few fundraisers a year, and this one helps us fill in the gaps in our budget," said Helping Hands Executive Director Carmen Landy. "We've had cuts from the state to our budget; $70,000 was cut from the budget this year. And it's so much fun to get together like this with our supporters - we really have a good time together every year."
"The food is great, and the cause is even better," said supporter Len Schodowski. "My wife used to volunteer at Helping Hands, so we've got a pretty good feeling about the people down there. We were at the Chef's Extravaganza two years ago; this will be our second time here."
Helping Hands, a United Way of Aiken County affiliated agency, is an emergency care shelter and low management group home for children in crisis. Children in foster care because of abuse, neglect or abandonment may stay at Helping Hands until they can be placed with a foster family.
This year the seven chefs had a little extra help in the kitchen. Midland Valley High School instructor Anne Jarrett brought 13 students from Culinary Arts I and II classes to Woodside Plantation on Friday to shadow the chefs and assist as needed.
"We have these volunteer students here today to give them a chance to see a professional kitchen in action and see how professional chefs work," said Carl.
The students were all juniors and seniors, and all serious about pursuing careers in food preparation and service, according to Jarrett.
"It's been great but kind of hectic," said Amber Crews.
"It's a very fancy kitchen compared to ours," said Andy Phan, who works at Ming Ming, his family's restaurant.
"Very fast moving," Crews added.
"This has been wonderful for all of them; they've never been mentored by a chef before, and now they have seven of them giving them all sorts of tips," said Jarrett.
Jarrett said she hoped the invitation to assist in the Chef's Extravaganza kitchen would become an annual event for her students.
"We have two or three students helping each chef, and they've really been pitching in. They're in awe; they've never seen tables set with five sets of flatware and glasses," Carl said. "We're helping Helping Hands, of course, but these kids have already got homes; I hope they go home and kiss their moms tonight."
Contact Suzanne Stone at sstone@aikenstandard.com.
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