Taste of Sewickley reaching the $1 million mark for KidsVoice

Foster children are shuffled from home to home to home — and by the time they reach adulthood and age out of the system, there aren’t many places for most of them to go. Some end up on the street or even worse.

“These kids have no safety net,” said Scott Hollander, executive director for KidsVoice, an Allegheny County-based nonprofit that provides legal advocacy for current and former foster children. “They often don’t have family support. If their car breaks down they might lose their job or if they have another crisis they may lose the roof over their heads. They may not have health care. These young people live on such a thin edge.”

Giving these young people hope is the goal of KidsVoice. The organization represents 2,000 youth per year and at times can help them return to their biological families. The organization also assists them as they transition to life after foster care, helping them get health care, education, jobs and housing. They have attorneys who can help expunge delinquency records giving the youth a fresh start.

This assistance takes money, which is where the annual volunteer-run Taste of Sewickley fundraising event comes in. The event, which began in 2016, sells out yearly. The first event had 40 guests and raised $20,000. It brought in $125,000 last year and this year and has raised more than $875,000 overall.

The ninth annual Taste of Sewickley was Sept. 7 at the home of Christian and John Stampfel.

The event began as an idea that Chuck Moser, a member of the KidsVoice board, had for a non-traditional fundraiser — one without speakers, auction items, gift baskets and other financial requests. Guests pay $250 for a multi-course meal in a relaxed setting in someone’s home. Moser enlisted the help of his friend and fellow board member, Greg Kaminski, to help with getting chefs.

Moser and his wife Barb and Kaminski and his wife Susan co-host the evening.

“I think people get fatigued with charity events,” Moser said. “So that is why I thought this idea would work — and it is working. It takes so many people to make this happen. From our wives to the volunteers and the guests and especially the chefs who donate time and ingredients. We have had to turn people away, which is tough but we want to keep it a small, intimate evening.”

Held the weekend after Labor Day, each dinner is carefully planned around its theme. This year, the chefs — two have professional training — served a five-course gourmet meal of their take on Asian-inspired cuisine, featuring flavor influences from Japan, Thailand and Korea.

Appetizers included California rolls provided by Barb Moser. Mariah Passarelli made chicken satay and Gary Schurman made hokkaido, Japanese milk bread. The first course was Passarelli’s sesame-crusted scallop with ginger chili sauce. The second course was Thai spring rolls by UPMC’s Dr. James E. “Jeb” Blaugrund, who accepted the role as chief chef this year, Kaminski said.

Kaminski said the spring rolls were “the best dish ever.”

The third course was Kaminski’s Thai red curry soup with chicken. Professional chef Emily Durham made miso black cod with bok choy for the fourth course. Pork belly bao buns were the fifth course made by Blaugrund, Tony Cafarelli and retired professional chef Osman Awad.

For dessert, Amber Gregg made olive oil orange cake with raspberry coulis and Stampfel made ginger ice cream. Linda Hines made chocolate chip cookies for a final treat.

Diners were offered a signature cocktail created by Chuck and Barb Moser called the lychee lemonade. The drink contained a touch of lychee liqueur – lychee is a tropical Asian fruit with red skin and sweet pulp — vodka and lemonade garnished with a slice of lemon, a mint leaf and two raspberries.

Kaminski said the importance of the evening is more than having a good meal.

”The main thing is to continue to do this to help these kids,” Kaminski said. “KidsVoice is so passionate about the work they do for these foster children and we are passionate about helping them do the work they do.”

Hollander said because of the generosity of Taste of Sewickley, the KidsVoice staff can continue to make life better for these young people and implement new ideas and programs that can be put into motion to make a difference.

“The beauty of this event is they created something that didn’t exist before,” Hollander said. “This was a new experience for people. These chefs create multi-course gourmet meals. They invite people into their homes. It is such a magical evening. It has such a good vibe. The Mosers, Kaminskis and all of the volunteer chefs and servers make Taste of Sewickley an incredible experience from the moment guests walk in. It means so much to see members of the Sewickley community come together to help KidsVoice make a difference in the lives of abused and neglected children.”