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Advocates Step Up To The Plate

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By B.C. MANION, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 1, 2007

When young residents of The Children's Home were asked to paint dishes for a fundraiser, they got excited.

'One boy said, 'Oh, we're going to be famous,' ' recalls Lisa Braswell, a spokeswoman for The Children's Home, a residential treatment center for children who have been abused, neglected or abandoned.

The plates will be sold at Hadassah Night of 1,000 Dishes, while others signed by people already widely known - including Jon Stewart, Mike Alstott, Doug Williams, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, and Dave Andreychuk - will be up for bids in a silent auction.

A young girl at The Children's Home decorated a plate with one of her poems. Pop singer Seal had the same idea, writing the lyrics to a song on his plate.
Lily Tomlin gave a caricature of herself; Martin Gramatica signed his name between the uprights of a goal post; Derrick Brooks embellished his signature with a smiley face; and Julius Erving signed inside a basketball hoop on the plate.

The 1,000 platters, plates and dishes will be sold during Sunday's fundraiser, an international food and wine festival with live entertainment, in Carol Morsani Hall at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center.

Eventgoers can sample American comfort foods and Asian, Italian, Mediterranean, French and Spanish cuisine. Desserts will be served in an area that's reminiscent of a Russian tearoom.

The idea is to have fun and help children at the same time, says event chairwoman Carrie Scheiner. The evening is being sponsored by the Tampa Ameet Hadassah Chapter, which is partnering with The Children's Home and The Spring of Tampa Bay. The National Association of Catering Executives is coordinating the food.

The event benefits The Spring, which serves abused adults and their children; The Children's Home; and Hadassah's Youth Aliyah, which serves young newcomers to Israel and disadvantaged youth there.

Planning for the event began a year ago with about 10 women from the local Hadassah chapter sitting around a table, Scheiner says.

Once they came up with the idea of a food festival, someone suggested calling it Hadassah Night of 1,000 Dishes. That meant figuring out a way to create a gallery of 1,000 dishes. Organizers enlisted the children's help, along with volunteer Amy Zalcman, who designed plates and platters for celebrities to sign.

They hit a snag when some of the kids balked at giving up the dishes they had painted. The problem was solved with thank-you gifts: glow-in-the-dark cups.

The children's plates will sell for a minimum $10 donation.

Finding celebrities to participate was another challenge. Committee members worked through their personal networks, and the performing arts center invited performers passing through to help.

Because the event is new, organizers don't know how large a crowd to expect. They're planning for 500 to 800 and hoping for more.

'Could we have 1,500 the first year? That would be great,' Scheiner says.

NIGHT OF 1,000 DISHES

WHAT: An international food and wine festival with a gallery of decorated dishes available for sale and up for bid. It benefits children's charities.

WHEN: 5 to 9 p.m. Sunday (VIP entry at 4:30 p.m.)

WHERE: Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Carol Morsani Hall, 1010 N. MacInnes Place, Tampa

TICKETS: $65 if ordered at www.nightof1000dishes.com through Saturday; $75 at the door. Sponsorships start at $360.

Reporter B.C. Manion can be reached at (813) 259-7150 or bmanion@tampatrib.com.

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