Chef to spin a little Disney magic at Best Gala
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SARA PLUMMER / Tulsa World
Barry Rashford, executive chef at Bailey Medical Center, cooks up beef primavera, a dish he created. Rashford will be cooking more than
200 meals March 31 for Owasso Community
Resources Owasso’s Best Gala held at the banquet facility at the Bailey Education Foundation.
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Fundraiser will benefit Owasso community group that supports many residents.
By Sara Plummer World Staff Writer
3/20/2007 12:43 PM
For executive chef Barry Rashford, feeding more than 200 people is easy.
"It's pretty simple," said Rashford, who cooked for parties of 5,000 to 6,000 people when he was a chef at Disney World. "It's not a big deal."
Rashford will prepare 218 meals for Owasso's Best Gala, a fundraiser for Owasso Community Resources.
Jeanette North, executive director for the nonprofit organization, said that in past years, the fundraiser had been a restaurant crawl.
This year's event is a formal dinner with live entertainment and a silent and live auction.
The gala begins at 6:30 p.m. March 31 in the Bailey Education Foundation banquet room in Bailey Medical Center, 11010 E. 106th St. North.
Dinner is served at 7 p.m. and the live auction begins at 8 p.m. Cost is $125 per person or $200 for a couple. Corporate sponsorship tables begin at $1,000.
North said several sponsorship tables have been purchased, and her goal is to raise $80,000.
"I always set it double what I think we'll be able to get," she said.
Owasso Community Resources offers a food pantry, counseling services, utility assistance and referrals to other agencies.
Last year, it provided
575 backpacks with school supplies to Owasso Public Schools, Thanksgiving meals to 175 families, Christmas gifts to 430 children and approximately $48,000 in utility assistance to residents in Owasso and Collinsville.
North said she hopes to raise a portion of the 2007 operating budget at this event.
This is something the organization has never done in the past.
"They did fundraising all year long. This is the once-a-year big blowout, an event Owasso hasn't seen before," she said.
"OCR hasn't had the (funding) support it needed to keep going."
Funding also comes from the Tulsa Area United Way, grants and corporate donations.
The Bailey Education Foundation's event room in Bailey Medical Center provided the opportunity to expand this year's event.
"It's the most beautiful facility we have that will facilitate 200 people," North said.
"We felt extremely lucky, not only for the room, but the chairs, tables, (audio visual) system."
Marna Salts is Bailey Education Foundation administrator.
"The building was built for the community," Salts said.
"We don't charge nonprofits," she said.
Bailey Medical Center is donating the kitchen and chef services.
"What's interesting is we're getting all this food donated," Rashford said.
He created a menu from those foods.
"I looked at what I was getting donated, then I said, 'I can make this, this and this,'" he said.
Rashford, who donates time to John 3:16 Mission, volunteered to cook the meals after North spoke to him about the gala.
"It helps out the community, and it's good for the hospital," he said.
Rashford and Ryan Woodward, dietary and catering manager at Bailey Medical Center, said the Bistro at Bailey doesn't fit people's preconceived notion of hospital food.
"We want to change that, that hospital food is bland and pureed," Rashford said. "We want to be the prototype."
The gala menu is a tossed green salad with sun-dried tomato basil vinaigrette; herb crusted beef with burgundy bordelaise and pan-seared chicken breast with five-peppercorn sauce; duchesse potatoes; grilled rosemary asparagus rings; and double fudge chocolate cake and passion berry mousse for dessert.
Owasso High School National Honor Society members are volunteering as servers; National Steak and Poultry, local grocery stores and restaurants are donating the food; Starbucks is providing coffee, teas and espressos.
Community involvement is something Starbucks in Owasso does regularly, said Kristin Warren, Starbucks store manager.
"We try to get out in the community at least once a month," Warren said.
"We work with Jeannette and OCR a lot."
Warren said volunteering is as much fun as working.
"The team is like a family. Our job is to connect with customers," she said.
Other Owasso retailers provided supplies and printing for the invitations, and auction items have also been donated.
"With 100 percent donated, 100 percent (of the proceeds) is going to the OCR general fund," North said.
By Sara Plummer World Staff Writer
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