Youth Home fundraiser fuses two former events
Two years of pandemic-caused cancellations has meant that Little Rock-based Youth Home Inc., a nonprofit psychiatric treatment facility in Little Rock, has not held either of its two main fundraisers.
So as the pandemic is easing, the nonprofit has decided to fuse them — “Eggshibition” and “The Next Course” — into a single, high-end culinary event: “An Eggs-Quisite Evening,” a five-course dinner with wine pairings, 6:30 p.m. April 7 on the Derek Fisher Court at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Jack Stephens Center.
“We had our last fundraisers in 2019,” explains Karen Yezzi, vice president of the Youth Home’s board of directors and co-chair (with Tom Bartole) of the event. “The ones for 2020 were canceled. The ones for 2021 were canceled.
“We decided it was time to make some changes and do one event.”
Shane Henderson, executive chef at Ben E. Keith Foods Mid-South in North Little Rock, who was in on the founding of “The Next Course” nearly a decade ago, is coordinating the meal. He and Kennedy Cotton, executive chef at Heritage Catering, are preparing the first course, a sort of charcuterie plate featuring seafood items, including crawfish crackers and smoked trout.
For the second course, Sammy Rudd, kitchen manager at Four Quarter Bar, and Cody Rudd, food services director at Fox Ridge Chenal, are putting together a duck Reuben salad. Chenal Country Club’s executive chef, Patrick Carter, and food and beverage director Jordan Baker, are working on the third course: a Sugo (a red sauce — basically, says Henderson, a ragout) with pork from Compart Family Farms in Minnesota and rice from Ralston Family Farms in Atkins.
For the fourth course, father-andson team Jamie McAfee, executive chef at Pine Bluff Country Club, and Jay McAfee, of Ben E. Keith Foods, are offering a premium “1855” ribeye with whipped potatoes on the side. And for dessert, Beth Morris, baker, and Brayan McFadden, chef, at Brood & Barley, are creating a smoked-blueberry fried pie.
There’s no provision, however, for ordinary diners who’d just like to stop in and have dinner. The basic entry price is the Entree Sponsorship — $1,500, which covers two reserved-seat tickets at one of 32 eight-seat tables and a 5:30 VIP cocktail reception, with a signature cocktail created by Henderson and Chenal Country Club’s Philip Mayfield, another long-term “Next Course” participant, plus an appetizer created by Youth Home’s chefs.
The decision to keep the fundraiser exclusive to sponsors was based in the quality of the meal and of the people preparing it, Henderson explains.
“This is the only time you can buy one ticket and get this unique group of chefs to cook for you in one night, for one price,” he says. “We’re bringing in some of the top chefs in Arkansas to cook a meal you couldn’t get at any other fundraiser. And it would cost you thousands to go to all their restaurants. It’s high, but not for what you’re getting.”
“The committee, along with the chefs, decided to keep this as very special event,” explains Angela Stroud, Youth Home’s development director. “We believe we have found ourselves a really cool ‘foodie’ event for this Little Rock market.”
“We went back to our long-term sponsors,” Yezzi adds, “and asked them first” about keeping admission via sponsorship rather than by individual ticket.
The limited seating — 256 — means the anticipated “take” for the fundraiser will come to about $160,000, Stroud says. At that, says Henderson, they’ll draw more people than his facility at Ben E. Keith in North Little Rock held (160) for the most recent “Next Course.” That also explains the need for a larger venue — ordinarily, it’s a practice court for the UALR basketball teams.
Though the meal will feature no eggs, at least not directly, vestiges of “Eggshibition” — eggs, made of plaster or other materials more durable than shells, decorated by Central Arkansas artists, student artists and often celebrities — survive in the accompanying silent auction. “‘Eggshibition’ was always about art,” Yezzi says, adding that there will be no “fresh” eggs this year; “they’re left over from what we were going to use for the canceled events.”
As part of a live auction, the chefs are offering private dining packages for groups of four to 10. Henderson, for example, will be auctioning off his “Tailored to Your Tastes” dinner, which he will host in the Ben E. Keith test kitchen.
The event also includes a wine pull, with wine and spirits donated by Youth Home’s board; a video interview with a Youth Home graduate; and videos of the chefs showing how each special dish is made, complete with recipes, produced by Little Rock’s Kirkpatrick Creative and provided by board member Michael Kirkpatrick.
BXS Insurance is the presenting sponsor and retired founder Tad Krug, a lifetime Youth Home board member, notes that “Youth Home has a 50-year track record of turning kids and their families’ lives around — miracles, lives changed.”
Henderson wants the event to also raise awareness of the need for mental health services for young people: “These are kids who need another chance at life. This is our future. Let’s give these kids the help they need, to be what they have the potential to be.”
And Yezzi says one of its goals is “to get younger people to come and learn about Youth Home, as well as to raise money to take care of these troubled kids.”
For more information, call (501) 821-5500 or visit YouthHome.org.