April 2018 - Saturday’s fundraiser at the Greenville Country Club lived up to expectations, providing the 200+ guests a memorable evening filled with yummy California-themed gastronomic delights and the opportunity to purchase watercolors, oil on canvas, wood crafts, fused glass, jewelry, flower arrangements, and home decor from a variety of artist exhibitors. And every artist generously donated 25% of their evening sales to Children & Families First.

To keep the artwork fun, fresh, and exciting year after year, CFFDE tries to include 5-10 new artists to the lineup. Some of the new exhibitors this year included:Thea Amato – 3-D wall art, Carol Balick – limited edition pastel prints, and Marian Cottrell –copper jewelry and home décor.

Children & Families First Delaware provides a continuum of community-based social services, helping children facing adversity on their journey to adulthood. 

Fopr the first time this year, planners offered culinary theme voting – putting a choice of food styles to a public vote over social media. When “A Taste of California Cuisine” edged out the “1960’s Cocktail Party,” Delaware’s up and coming culinary minds spring into action devising crowd-pleasing menus for the evening.

Students from four local high school hospitality programs were given creative freedom to create an exotic menu based on the theme. Participating schools included: 
Hodgson Vo-Tech High School
Howard High School of Technology
St. George’s Technical High School
William Penn High School

Chef Kip Poole, culinary instructor at William Penn, and his culinary team created a creamy artichoke and pickled veggie toast appetizer and pork ribeez with pomegranate molasses BBQ as an entree, which was accompanied by tabbouleh quinoa. And for dessert, his students prepared cucumber and mint ice cream sandwiches.

“This is our eleventh year hosting A Taste for Art, and we are more and more impressed with the student’s continued professionalism, talent, excitement, and knowledge of their craft, year after year,” said Ashley Gliniak, communications and design coordinator at Children & Families First Delaware. “It is such a beautiful thing to witness the kids doing what they love and such an amazing job – setting up, engaging with the crowd, and running their food stations.”

Gliniak added, “We are very grateful to the chefs, schools, and students for sharing their support, time, and food expertise with us at this year ’s event!”