Garden Harvest Salsa Contest

Summary:

We’re looking for volunteer help for the next 3 weeks with this fundraiser for ECWT.  That’s right – a very short term project with no expectations for help beyond October 2.
Contact Darin Short at 238-5514 or darinks@intersights.net to get involved.

Details:

Many months ago David pointed me to a website that told about one community’s efforts to build community through an event entitled “Taste of Lancaster.” His creative juices posed the possibility of doing something like this as a fundraiser for ECWT while also building community in a multicultural context. The idea of building community in a multicultural context certainly appealed to my interest of creating spaces for people to develop intercultural insight. At some point during a conversation between David, Kalaine & myself the idea developed further into that of organizing a Garden Harvest Salsa Contest to capitalize on the energy created by ECWT around the community and individual gardens. The contest will, of course, help to raise money for ECWT and ultimately for those individuals whose needs ECWT is addressing. And at this particular point in time because of the multiple stresses that many people in this county are experiencing, a fun and exciting event like this that almost everyone can enjoy seems to be a no-brainer.

The flyer above provides much of the relevant information but some additional background may be helpful.

• We will sell individual bags of chips for $1 for residents to use to test the salsa.
• Residents will then have an opportunity to place a donation in a designated bucket for the salsa that they think is best. Obviously, this is the fundraising part.
• The winning participant will be able to choose a charity to receive a donation which will be funded through this fundraising event
• Regarding the Secret Ingredient Drawing: We will list the ingredients of several of the  participants’ salsa blends. Each of these particular recipes, though, will be missing one of the ingredients. Residents will then be able to guess the secret ingredient by submitting their guess and name in a designated bucket. We will draw names from the bucket and if they have listed the correct ingredient they will receive a gift certificate to a local restaurant. We will award 3 or 4 such gift certificates.
• Regarding the Salsa Knowledge Questionnaire: Participants will have the opportunity to answer a few basic culturally-based questions about salsa. Again, if they submit the correct answers and their name is drawn from the bucket they will win a certain prize.
• Regarding the group participants, the idea is that there are probably affinity groups such as neighborhood associations, PTO’s, band boosters or other school-related groups, church groups, etc. that could enhance existing relationships by working together to create their own salsa blends and concoctions. Such participation might also draw their constituents to the actual event on October 2 (i.e., constituents would want to rally around their particular “group”, such as band parents rallying around those who made salsa on behalf of the band boosters).
• We plan to provide the ingredients for those who compete in the contest. The idea is that community gardens, the farmers market, and several local grocery stores will be able to provide most, if not all, of the goods necessary to make the salsa.

So, what can you do to help bring this event to fruition? First contact myself at 238-5514 or darinks@intersights.net then choose from the following tasks:

• Contact potential participants who will have already received an invitation via email to participate in this event
• Contact a few local “celebrities” to ask for their participation on the Judges Panel (we already have a list of potential “celebrities”)
• Contact and connect with members of community gardens for the purpose of gathering produce to make the salsa
• Contact local grocers to ask for in-kind contributions of produce and other salsa ingredients
• Coordinate handling (e.g., receiving and storing) of produce in a centralized location (i.e., most likely the Bricolage). Participants will come to this location to pick up produce for making the salsa.
• Coordinate development and printing of an informational piece to be distributed on the night of the event (i.e., for community residents who come to First Fridays and want to know what the Garden Harvest Salsa Contest is all about)
• Coordinate contest day logistics (e.g., obtaining, setting-up, and tearing-down tables; coordinating and making chips available to residents as they come to test the salsa; obtaining and gathering donation buckets; setting up a recycle bin for people to return the informational piece that they received, etc.).
• Pursue gift certificates from local restaurants and other organizations to be given away as part of the drawings
• Develop a salsa knowledge questionnaire

As you can tell most of the details have already surfaced. We only need 5-6 people to help pull this off. And like we already mentioned, this is a very short-term project. So, why not join us and be a part of this inaugural annual event that is sure to be a cornerstone of the autumn First Fridays for years to come?

-Darin Short
www.intersights.net