STIRRED TO ACTION Notable Hub men cook for health center
Dropkick Murphys frontman Ken Casey has many talents. He can rock out onstage. He can get a crowd pumped. A burgeoning restaurateur, he can even fill dining rooms at his buzzy new Dorchester ventures, Lower Mills Tavern and Yellow Door Taqueria, with foodies and music fans.
But despite participating in an upcoming fundraiser dubbed Men of Boston Cook for Women's Health, Casey admits that he's actually much duller with a kitchen knife than with a bass guitar.
“I'm the worst cook!” Casey said. “Believe me, women don't deserve to eat my cooking.”
Good news: They won't have to. Guests will still get a chance to rub elbows with Casey at the Oct. 5 event, which annually draws more than 1,000 people to a glittery gala tent in Dorchester to raise funds for Codman Square Health Center. But he's among three-dozen notable local men — including Gov. Charlie Baker, Mayor Marty Walsh and a smattering of other civic leaders, media personalities and hometown heroes, such as CNN anchor John King, a Dot native — who will be paired with professional chefs at popular Boston restaurants. Together they'll dole out food and drink to supporters of the health center's communitybuilding mission.
Besides Casey's restaurants, other eateries represented at the event will include casual neighborhood joints such as barbecue fixture M&M Ribs, trendy newcomers from around the city such as gourmet pizza-maker Area Four and upscale establishments such as Alma Nove, the high-end Hingham restaurant from celebrity chef Paul Wahlberg, who grew up with his famous brothers in a Dorchester triple-decker.
This is the 20th anniversary of Men of Boston, which was originally launched to promote Codman Square Health Center's mammography services during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Since then, Men of Boston has raised more than $3 million for the organization, and now supports an array of programs and services — including mammograms, prenatal care and healthy-weight initiatives — specifically aimed at reducing health care disparities for women, particularly those living in underserved communities.
“We've had many survivors of breast cancer over the years talk about how the services provided at Codman Square Health Center were the difference between life and death,” said Codman CEO Sandra Cotterell. “There are also so many stories about community residents who have met the governor, a congressman, the mayor, a corporate leader, a professional athlete or an entertainment icon, and what it has meant for them to have the attention of these folks in their community, which has in past years been neglected by the powers that be.”
Indeed, since it first opened its doors in a library basement in 1979, Codman Square Health Center — now a 140,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility in the heart of Dorchester — has emerged as a national model for transforming grassroots health care activism into multifaceted institutions that engage and strengthen urban communities.
“Together, we've made this a better community,” said Bill Walczak, the health center's founder and former CEO. A community activist and former mayoral candidate, he now helms the South End Community Health Center.
“Codman Square Health Center was a transformative force in the neighborhood,” said Chris Douglass, chef-owner of Dorchester restaurants Ashmont Grill and Tavolo. He has participated in Men of Boston Cook for Women's Health since its inception, and lived in the neighborhood even longer.
“Dorchester has changed tremendously,” said Douglass, who moved there in 1987. “It's still one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the city, but with a new hipness, too.”