How you can volunteer to have a good time

Kathy Jennings | Thursday, January 30, 2014

Helping volunteers find the group they want to volunteer with is part of what Volunteer Kalamazoo is all about. It also teaches nonprofits on how to work best with their volunteers.

An annual fundraising party helps make that work possible. Eat, Drink, Give is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 7 at the Radisson Hotel in downtown Kalamazoo.

The money raised through ticket sales, sponsorships, contributions from restaurant and beverage sponsors, raffle tickets, the silent auction, after party tickets and donations made at the party itself go to support the work of Volunteer Kalamazoo.

What will there be to eat? Culinary creations from: Arcadia Ales, BOLD Restaurant & Catering, The Cheese Lady, Food Dance, Full City Cafe, Garden Gate Cafe, Gorilla Gourmet with The Victorian Bakery, Latitude 42, Martell’s, Old Dog Tavern, The Organic Gypsy, People's Food Co-op, Pistachios Catering, Rustica, Salt of the Earth, Tiffany's Wine & Spirit Shop, Water Street Coffee Joint Catering, Webster's PRIME, Zazios, Zeb's Trading Co. and Zooroona.

To drink there will be more than 50 wines from the portfolio of Imperial Beverage and local wineries Tempo Vino Winery, Cody Kresta Vineyard & Winery and Lawton Ridge Winery; sangria from The Sangria Shop in Portage; and beer from New Holland, Arcadia Ales and Latitude 42. In addition, New Holland Artisan Spirits has been working with local bartenders and mixologists to offer our guests a wide variety of Signature Cocktails, while Old Dog Tavern will be sharing the spotlight with their resident mixologist The Traveling Elixir Fixer.

Some of those who already have decided to give are here.

And before the evening is over there's a chance to dance, too.Volunteer Kalamazoo hosts an official After Party called Eat Drink Dance. Kevin "Professor Pop" King gets the dance party going at 10 p.m. immediately following the main event.

"Every year, we add something new to the event," says Carrie Vanderbush, executive director of Volunteer Kalamazoo. "It just keeps getting better and better. We are overwhelmed by the support from our friends and the community."

Writer: Kathy Jennings, Second Wave Media
Source: Katie Keel, Volunteer Kalamazoo

2013 photos courtesty Volunteer Kalamazoo.