VALDOSTA – Friendly rivalry will spark as the 6th Annual Cook & Care competition comes to the Valdosta Country Club this year. Cook & Care is a live, on-site culinary and mixology competition to benefit the Children’s Advocacy Center (CAC) of Lowndes County, Inc. The event begins at 6:30 pm, Monday, October 22, 2018. Featured chefs and mixologists will be representing Steel Magnolias, Birdies, Wiregrass Technical College, Holiday Inn & Conference Center, and Jack’s Chophouse. A few of the featured judges include; District Attorney Bradfield M. Shealy, Tom Fazekas from Five Points Liquor and Melissa Pelky- Hass. Ms. Hass is the Front Porch Gourmet and has had over 100 recipes published in national publications such as “Taste of Home”, “Southern Living”, Epicurious.com and “Healthy Cooking” books and magazines. Her craft has earned over 320 State Fair Blue Ribbons, 160 Red Ribbons and titles of Spam Champion, Fleishman’s Yeast Baking Champion, Hidden Valley Ranch Recipe Winner, and the Chicago Cutlery’s “The Cut” Sandwich National Grand Champion to name a few.
Cook & Care is an event designed to showcase individual skills, techniques and styles of participants as they review their box of mystery ingredients and present a 3-course meal and mixologists presenting two cocktails to a panel of judges. The event brings together supporters of the non-profit agency and highlights the community’s commitment to assisting the sexually and physically abused children of our area. In addition to the “Chopped” type show, ticket holders will have an option to bid on the entrées while enjoying a specially-designed menu provided by VCC and participate in a silent auction. There will be live music provided by Michael Stacey. The Michael Stacey Band has traveled the U.S. performing at various venues and sharing the stage with such popular acts as Brad Paisley, Wynonna, Neal McCoy, and Lonestar, just to name a few.
Sponsorship opportunities and tickets for $25 per person are available for businesses and individuals who are interested in supporting the CAC’s mission to stop child abuse and minimize the trauma of child victims in Lowndes and surrounding counties (Lanier, Berrien, Brooks, Cook, and Echols). In 2017, the CAC provided services to over 700 abused children including over 1,200 therapy sessions, all completely free of charge. Tickets can be purchased through Eventbrite, the CAC’s Facebook event page, or by calling 229.245.5362.
