Members of the Big Hearts for Little Hearts Loma Linda Guild are celebrating the success of the 14th annual Dishes for Wishes Cooking School fundraiser, which was held on Wednesday, October 23, at the Orange Show Events Center in San Bernardino to benefit Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital.
“The 14th annual Dishes for Wishes event was spectacular!” reports Dolores Aeberli, guild president. “We are grateful to Lexus of Riverside, our corporate sponsor, for their incredible generosity again this year. They have been so supportive, not only of this event, but of everything we’ve done to help the children in our region. We want to salute them as well as all of our supporters, sponsors, and vendors.”
Ms. Aeberli said Angie Temple, who served as chair for the second year in a row, did an absolutely fabulous job.
“In addition to putting everything together, she recruited some of the best culinary talent in the Inland Empire for her Farm-to-Table theme, and the food was just unbelievable,” Ms. Aeberli continued. “Martha Green, of course, was amazing. Martha has served as master of ceremonies every year since the event started in 1999. She’s witty and charming; she kept the audience entertained and presented three delicious desserts from her bakery. We owe so much to Martha.”
Celebrity chefs who demonstrated their talents at the event included: Woody Kerr, resident chef at Kitchen Kitchen in Indian Wells; Angela Alce, owner of Dhat Island Caribbean Creole Cuisine in Redlands; Anastacio Rodriguez, executive chef of Loma Linda University Medical Center - Murrieta; Lee Burton, caterer and personal chef, of Redlands; Itztli DeLaTorre, executive chef of Speakeasy in Redlands; and Martha Green, owner of Dough’Lectibles and Martha Green’s Eating Room, both in Redlands.
Officers from the Colton, Loma Linda, San Bernardino County, and Redlands fire departments as well as their colleagues from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department served as waiters throughout the evening.
An estimated 350 people attended the event. Ms. Aeberli said the amount of money raised by the event was not available as this edition of News of the Week went to press, but she said it was considerable.