4th Annual Hunger Banquet: Benefits Project AIDS Orphan

One of our favorite nonprofit groups, Project AIDS Orphan, will host the 4th Annual Hunger Banquet Wednesday, March 31, and it’s probably one of the most creative events I’ve heard of. It’s set for 5:30 p.m. at the Broadway United Methodist Church, Igert Hall, 701 Broadway.

The idea is to raise awareness around how our neighbors around the world experience hunger. What can you expect? Well, upon arriving you draw for one of three dining options:

1. Upper Class: You’ll be served a very fancy meal at your table, created by Cynthia’s own Bill Gardner. His delish creation: A crab cake in white wine sauce on top of a beef filet with red wine sauce on a garlic potato cake served on a bed of locally organically grown arugula. Wow.
2. Middle Class: Dinner is family style with chicken enchiladas, veggies and chips and black bean and mango salsa, created by Paul Bilak, the co-founder of PAO. He’s an amazing cook, so middle class folks are in for a treat, as well.
3. Lower Class: OK, so this is the slight, but tasty, bummer. You, like 60 percent of the rest of the world, will enjoy a good but small portion of high calorie food — in this case, Indian lentil curry, rice and a variety of chutneys.

“It’s a wonderful and very emotional event,” Paul says. “We appreciate all the donations — especially Bill’s — and all of our volunteers. And we’ll be talking a bit about what we can all do to help locally.”

Paul promises a few surprises along the way! Pre-buy tickets by calling 270.443.2401, or just purchase them at the door. Minimum donation is $10 per ticket; $30/family. All proceeds go toward the wonderful work of Project AIDS Orphan, which supports children who have been orphaned by the AIDS crisis in East Africa.