SEEN: Hispanic Chamber’s fundraiser
If Weight Watchers and local gyms are seeing a spike in new enrollees this week, this may be the reason why:
Sabor.
The Hispanic Chamber’s signature fundraiser brought a crowd numbering in the thousands to Denver Botanic Gardens on Aug. 4 to celebrate “the flavors of the Americas” by sampling food from 40 area restaurants.
And with each food station offering goodies too tempting to resist, well, you get the picture.
There were a half-dozen varieties of cheese from Queso Campesino; Wystone’s World Teas and Los Molinos offered street tacos; Gordo’s Mexican Restaurant served flautas; and Lazo Empanadas delighted the VIP guests with several varieties of its Argentinian treats. On the sweet side, choices included alfajor cookies from Azucar Bakery and mango smoothies from McDonald’s.
This was the 10th year that Sabor has raised significant funds for the chamber and the numerous programs it hosts to build a “vibrant and prosperous Hispanic business community.” Founded in 1978, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Metro Denver was the city’s first ethnic minority chamber of commerce and today, with 2,500 members, is the largest.
President and chief executive officer Mike Ferrufino and such board members as Hollie Velasquez Horvath, Angela Bricmont, Sofia Aguilar and Kasia Iwaniczko MacLeod were there to mix and mingle with a crowd that included politicians, civic leaders and folks who just plain love good food.
Among them: U.S. Rep. Jared Polis; former Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and his wife, Hope; Denver Mayor Michael Hancock; Speaker of the House Crisanta Duran; Denver District Attorney Beth McCann; Westminster City Councilwoman Maria De Cambra; and Denver School Board member Barbara O’Brien.
Rosemary Rodriguez, who is retiring as senior adviser to U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, was there, too, along with Patricia Barela Rivera; Mike Ferrufino’s dad, KBNO Radio boss Zee Ferrufino; Josh Hanfling; Pat Cortez and Manuel Martinez; Marcela de la Mar, executive director of the Mexican Cultural Center, and hubby John Fair; attorney Jessica Alizadeh and her husband, Reza; Veronica Figoli, president/CEO of the Denver Public Schools Foundation; Hasan Salem, president of US Bank Colorado, and his wife, Sheila; Michelle Lucero, chief administrative officer and general counsel for Children’s Hospital Colorado; Denise Maes, public policy director for ACLU Colorado; and attorney Penfield Tate and his wife, Paulette.