Generosity tastes good at Second Harvest

Area chefs and gourmets joined forces again to help those dealing with food crises around Ohio’s north coast.

Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio on Sept. 25 held its 11th annual Generous Helpings fundraiser.

A total of 19 eateries joined the agency’s “premiere restaurant team” and cooked up some of their finest dishes for at least 550 guests to sample.

The agency collects and sends out food to local organizations that give it away to those facing hunger in Lorain, Erie, Huron and Crawford counties. Second Harvest’s Nordson Food Distribution Center, 5510 Baumhart Road, Lorain, where the chefs and diners mingled with music, drinks and industrialsized shelves stacked with pallets of food.

Second Harvest distributes more than 8.3 million pounds to 100 partner agencies around the region, said Paul Adair, president of Second

Harvest’s board of directors.

“What we’re trying to do is really end hunger in the community,” said Paul Adair, president of Second Harvest’s board of directors.

Depending on the location, up to one in four people is “food insecure,” meaning they don’t know where their next meal will come from, Adair said.

“So Second Harvest is the giants behind the scenes, collecting

all the food and then redistributing it to our different agencies,” Adair said.

“This event is so awesome,” he said, because it is fun, raises money for a good cause and spreads the word about hunger and an agency that helps.

The event is meant for guests to see the food orders packed and trucks at the loading dock, said Julie Chase-Morefield, executive director. The mix of fun inside the warehouse has helped the event’s success over the years, she said.

“You know that come 7:30 tomorrow morning, that we are distributing food and that we are delivering to food pantries and soup kitchens and shelters throughout the region,” she said.

Second Harvest always is looking for donations and volunteers to help. Anyone interested can find the agency online or call 440-960-2265.

The donors at Generous Helpings also received tokens to vote for their favorite dishes.

The winner of the 2016 people’s choice award was Vine & Olive, which served cannoli. Vine & Olive is a specialty food importer featuring Mediterranean foods at 4719 Milan Ave., Perkins Township, south of Sandusky.

The critic’s choice went to Bistro 83, which served vegetarian pierogi topped with bleu cheese. Bistro 83 is at 36033 Westminster Ave., North Ridgeville.

The critics included guest reviewers from The Morning Journal, the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram and the Sandusky Register.

RICHARD PAYERCHIN — THE MORNING JOURNAL From left, Jenso Soto, co-owner of Smash - The World’s Greatest Food Truck of Lorain, hands over a sample of pumpkin basil macaroni and cheese, a dish prepared with Smash co-owner Verita Soto, his sister.