Above / DuPagePads’ Taste of Hope will benefit needs of Interim Housing Center. (Photo by Chad Pedigo)
The 18th Annual Taste of Hope is set from 5PM to 9PM on Thurs., Feb. 29, 2024, at Drury Lane in Oakbrook Terrace. Guests are invited to dine and socialize while learning more about DuPagePads current work to end homelessness.
2024 Taste of Hope co-chairs are DuPagePads board members Mary Morrissey and Tami Weir, both of Naperville.
“Right now, more than 100 children and over 200 adults are safely sheltered at DuPagePads Interim Housing Center receiving the care they need to end their homelessness,” said Morrissey. “Yet the need is growing.”
“Thanks to sponsors, donors and attendees at the Taste of Hope,” added Weir, “DuPagePads will be able to continue to help more unsheltered families and individuals in the community.”
Since the first Taste of Hope 17 years ago, support successfully has provided more than 18,000 families and neighbors with a path forward to no longer being homeless and alone.
This affair annually attracts 500 attendees to Drury Lane in Oakbrook Terrace. Samplings of signature dishes from 25 well-known restaurants and caterers across the area will be featured with beer and wine from Alter Brewing and Aspen Lane Wine Company.
Many leaders in the local restaurant community already have signed up to serve their delicious tastes.
Guests will have opportunities to sample tastes from Alter Brewing + Kitchen, Belgio’s Catering, BusyButternut, Che Figata, Chef by Request, CityGate Grille, Dark Horse Grill and Catering, DeEtta’s Bakery, Devon Seafood and Steak, Ditka’s, Gibson’s, Glen Prairie, Indian Harvest, J. Fleming’s Absolutely Delicious, Meson Sabika, Miss Dottie’s Pound Cakes, Schmaltz Deli and Vistro Prime.
In addition to delicious food and beverages, guests will have opportunities to mix and mingle while participating in fun raffles, wine pulls, and remarkable silent auction packages via mobile bidding. A live auction will be filled with “fabulous trips and experiences,” organizers said.
Interim Housing Center Update
A brief program will feature updates on DuPagePads Interim Housing Center, mission successes as well as a personal testimony from a client in housing.
“I am super excited for this year’s Taste of Hope and so grateful to our restaurant partners, sponsors and planning committee for making this event possible,” said April Redzic, President and CEO of DuPagePads. “The Taste of Hope is so aptly named because it’s bringing hope, a warm meal, and safe place to sleep to the 200 adults and 105 children who are our Interim Housing guests, as well as the 329 people whom we’ve helped move into an apartment of their own this year.”
Redzic added, “Last year’s event raised the last private dollars we needed to get appliances and materials for our IHC kitchen construction, and this year’s event will help us renovate our rooms to make them cleaner and more functional for the families who are staying with us each night.”
Individual dinner tickets are available for $125 per person or tables of 10 for $1,000 per table with early bird pricing. Drury Lane capacity is limited to 500 guests. (UPDATE: PN was notified on Feb. 8, 2024, that all available tickets to this year’s Taste of Hope have been sold. A waiting list is a possibility. DuPagePads is grateful for all support.)
For Taste of Hope details, online auction bidding, or a list of host sponsors, visit: 2024TOH.givesmart.com.
For more information, contact event planner Carrie Flick at (630) 480-4186 or CFlick@dupagepads.org. Or visit www.dupagepads.org.
