Tag Archives: benefit
Gourmet Grazing on the Green benefits cancer research: enjoy lots of delicious food and wine

Attendees at a previous Grazing on the Green, photo courtesy of Santa Cruz Cancer Benefit Group
The 16th annual Gourmet Grazing on the Green—noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 5 at Aptos Village Park—is an always-fun annual celebration with more than 75 vendors including local restaurants, caterers, wineries, breweries, and spirits distilleries. Proceeds benefit the Santa Cruz Cancer Benefit Group (SCCBG) .
Buy $65 tickets at New Leaf Community Markets (downtown, Westside or Capitola locations) or online or pay $70 at the door if it’s not sold out. Adult admission includes food, drinks and a souvenir wineglass. Designated driver tickets are $40 in advance or $50 at the door. Kids 10 and under are free; kids ages 10-20 are $35.
Longtime sponsors New Leaf Community Markets, Coke Farms and Watsonville Coast Produce generously donate lots of locally grown produce and products for chefs to create special tastes for event attendees.
Participating restaurants, food suppliers, food trucks, and other vendors include:
- Alterra Solar
- Ashby Confections
- Ate3One
- Back Nine Grill and Bar
- Brew Dr. Kombucha
- Café Cruz
- California Lavash
- Cantine Winepub
- Cinnamon Bay Clothing
- Cruise Coffee
- Drink La Vie
- East Side Eatery
- Efi’s Dutch-indo Kitchen
- Ella’s at the Airport
- Fran Battendieri Designs
- Friend in Cheeses Jam Co
- Hollins House
- Hula’s Island Grill
- Judge Casey’s
- K Dezynz Jewelry
- Malone’s Grille Scotts Valley
- Martinelli’s
- McKella Jo
- New Leaf Community Markets
- Pacific Coffee Roasting Co.
- Pure Valley Water
- Sandbar Solar
- Santa Cruz Fish Co.
- Shadowbrook Restaurant
- Smart Chicken
- SunRidge Farms
- The Crow’s Nest
- The Turkey Boat
- Vital Mystic
- Watsonville Coast Produce
- Whole Enchilada
- Zameen Mediterranean Cuisine
Wineries, breweries and spirits include:
- Alfaro Family Winery
- Armitage Wines
- Bargetto Winery
- Bonny Doon Vineyard
- Burrell School Vineyards
- Carbonic Service
- Discretion Brewing
- El Vaquero Winery
- Hallcrest Vineyards
- Integrity Wines
- Kathryn Kennedy Winery
- Kings Mountain Vineyards
- Lester Estate Wines
- Loma Prieta Winery
- MJA Vineyards
- Muccigrosso Vineyards
- Muns Vineyard
- New Bohemia Brewing Co.
- Pelican Ranch Winery
- Roudon-Smith Winery
- Sailing Shoes Wine
- Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing
- Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard
- Sante Arcangeli Family Wines
- Scrumpy Hard Cider
- Seabright Brewery
- Sones Winery
- Soquel Cider
- Storrs Winery
- Uncommon Brewers
- Venus Spirits
- Via Vega Winery
- Villa Del Monte Winery
- Wrights Station Winery
Proceeds from SCCBG’s events benefit these local cancer support and research organizations: Hospice of Santa Cruz County, Jacob’s Heart Children’s Cancer Association, Katz Cancer Resource Center, researchers from UC Santa Cruz, the Teen Kitchen Project, and WomenCARE Cancer Advocacy.
Since 1995, SCCBG has been dedicated to improving the quality of life for people living with cancer in the Santa Cruz community, by raising money to support beneficiary organizations and fund new research that will provide possible cures and better solutions for treating cancer. Just in the last decade, they have distributed more than $2 million to directly support the Santa Cruz community.
For more information on the event, see sccbg.org. Parking is limited at Aptos Village Park. There is free shuttle service every 15 minutes from Cabrillo College (parking lot K); parking is free. If you Uber, dropoff is at the top of the park.
Aptos Village Park: 100 Aptos Creek Road, Aptos

Attendees at a previous Grazing on the Green, photo courtesy of Santa Cruz Cancer Benefit Group
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Eat soup Thursday & help Santa Cruz’s Homeless Services Center

A scene from the 2017 Soupline Supper (courtesy of Soupline web site)
Santa Cruz’s Homeless Services Center (HSC) invites the community to eat unlimited soup from dozens of local restaurants, caterers, and other food businesses from 5:30-8 p.m. Thursday, April 19, at the Cocoanut Grove.
The 19th annual Soupline Supper assists HSC as it helps families and individuals in our community find safe, permanent homes. Last year’s dinner helped 249 people find a permanent home. For $50 per person, attendees receive soup, salad, bread, and dessert. Wine is available for an additional donation. Kids’ tickets are $20. Buy tickets online.
Participating restaurants in 2018’s Soupline include 99 Bottles, Assembly, The Bagelry, Café Cruz, Erik’s Deli, Gabriella Café, India Joze, Kelly’s French Bakery, La Posta, Manuel’s, Oswald, Shadowbrook, Soif, and Walnut Ave Café. See full restaurant list at souplinesupper.org/restaurants.
The usual set-up is this: there are different tables around the perimeter of the room, all with large containers of homemade soup, with about a dozen available at any one time (selections rotate throughout the evening). Attendees walk around and choose which ones to sample. Public officials and other community leaders serve the soup. This year’s “Celebrity Ladlers” include local politicians Mark Stone, Richelle Noroyan, Cynthia Chase, Zach Friend, Ryan Coonerty, and John Leopold; and arts and community organization leaders such as Keisha Frost (United Way), Nan Mickiewicz (Dominican Hospital), Susan Nemitz (SC Public Library), Susan True (Community Foundation SC County) and Nina Simon (MAH).
Buy tickets and read more information online at souplinesupper.org.
Free parking after 4 pm is available at the Boardwalk lot across from the Cocoanut Grove.
HSC is a non-profit organization that partners with individuals and families to create pathways out of their homelessness into permanent housing. HSC’s vision is that homelessness in Santa Cruz County should be rare, brief, and non-recurring.
Event location: Cocoanut Grove, 400 Beach St., Santa Cruz
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Teen Kitchen Project: two brunch dates remain in series, plus new kids’ classes

A scene from TKP’s brunch benefit Sunday, March 25, in Aptos
Teen Kitchen Project has been running a brunch fundraiser series since March. There were two Sundays in March, then they skipped Easter, and now two Sundays remain — April 8 and 15. Entrees rotate each time and have included Huevos Rancheros with rice and beans; orange-zested thick cut French toast with spiced maple syrup; and broccoli cheddar quiche with country style sausage and home fries. There are two seatings each day, 9:30 & 11:30 a.m., and brunch takes place at TKP’s newly renovated teaching kitchen and café at 8061 Aptos St. Cost is $35 for adults and $15 for kids under 12. The TKP teens do the cooking and serving. Entrees include a basket of freshly baked goods at each table, plus coffee, tea and juice. My family and I dined with TKP on March 25, and thoroughly enjoyed the meal–from the delectable scones to scrumptious sausage, Chilaquiles and more! View menus and purchase online at teenkitchenproject.org/brunch.One hundred percent of proceeds benefit TKP.
TKP recently began offering cooking classes for kids ages 8 and up, for $35 each, and they are now expanding to offer a few for kids 5-8. At the first one for “littles” on Monday, April 30, kids will make pizza. “Teen Kitchen Project is excited to open our doors to aspiring chefs ages 5 and up who are interested in learning more about developing their culinary skills,” says founder Angela Farley. “We believe empowering young people with the knowledge and skills to prepare food from scratch is essential to accomplish our goal of building a healthier Santa Cruz County, one meal at a time.”
Topics for the older kids have included burgers, tacos and dumplings. During the 2-hour classes, kids work with other students in groups of two to four. There are also adult chefs and a teen helper present. At the end of class, participants get to eat the food they prepare. Monday and Wednesday classes are at the Aptos location (8061 Aptos St.), and Friday classes are at the Soquel location (2880 Research Park Dr.). Enrollment is limited. Visit the registration page at crm.fundly.com//6708/Pages/Events/#/.
For those unfamiliar with Teen Kitchen Project, executive director Angela Farley launched TKP in 2012 after her son was diagnosed with cancer. Farley decided she wanted to help other families affected by cancer, to at least attempt to decrease some of the pressure and feelings of being overwhelmed. Today, the organization regularly delivers 600-700 free, healthy meals for clients throughout Santa Cruz County who are in crisis due to illness. Teen volunteers ages 13-18 prepare meals with the assistance of adult volunteers. The teens gain valuable skills as they volunteer. For more info, visit the web site teenkitchenproject.org.
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Dine at Hula’s on Mondays and support Boys and Girls Club of Santa Cruz County

April Mahalo Mondays benefit Boys and Girls Club
If you go out for dinner or drinks at the downtown Santa Cruz restaurant Hula’s on Monday nights in April, part of your meal will benefit the Boys and Girls Club.
During the month of April, Hula’s Island Grill & Tiki Room – a wonderful place to eat and drink with selections to accommodate many different tastes – is donating 10% of all Monday night sales to the Boys and Girls Club of Santa Cruz County.
This promotion is part of the restaurant’s Mahalo Mondays community giving program; on selected months throughout the year, a different non-profit organization receives 10% of Monday evening sales. Between 2008 and 2016, Hula’s donated more than $143,000 to 56 local nonprofit organizations via Mahalo Mondays proceeds.
If you haven’t been to Hula’s lately, there’s a great lanai in front providing outdoor seating; it opened in May 2016. The restaurant’s menu features Hawaiian fusion dishes and other choices. Lunch highlights include delicious burgers with beef and veggie options that come with choice of sweet potato fries (warning: addictive), regular fries, slaw or arugula or Caesar salad; rice bowls with black beans, cabbage mix, and choice of “jungle” tofu, wasabi ahi or spicy Thai chicken; and a variety of tacos. At dinnertime, all of these dishes are still available, and there are many more such as Hawaiian fish soup, slow-roasted pork plate, and fresh fish. For seafood, you can choose between six types of fish and select one of six preparation types to match it with. For example, pick lemongrass-encrusted halibut with lime-ginger-cream sauce or pan-fried ono with shiitakes. Hula’s also offers a tiki bar that features 40 different rums, tropical drink specialties and more.
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Cruz County promotes youth guidance through educational, vocational, recreational, social and character development of girls and boys ages 6 to 18. The Club is the only youth service organization in the greater Santa Cruz area providing daily afterschool drop-in programs five days a week. There is a downtown Santa Cruz location, and a new Live Oak location that opened one year ago. Boys & Girls Clubs also offer a summer day camp program five days a week from mid-June through mid-August, and Winter and Spring break day camps.
Details
Hula’s Island Grill and & Tiki Room, 221 Cathcart Street (between Cedar and Pacific), Santa Cruz (831) 426-4852
Dates: April 10, 17, and 24
Hours: Dinner nightly 4:00 p.m.–close, lunch Tuesday- Sunday 11:30 a.m.–4:00 p.m., happy hour with daily specials (Tuesday–Sunday 2-6 p.m., Monday 4:30–6).
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Trio of events at Santa Cruz’s Assembly and POPUP this weekend

Puerto Rican food by La Sofrita. Photo credit: La Sofrita Facebook page
There are many events, including some food-related ones, occurring this weekend in the Santa Cruz area. Here are details for three events in Santa Cruz at POPUP and Assembly (all at 1108 Pacific Ave.).
Friday night: My Mom’s Mole at POPUP
To celebrate National Tortilla Chip Day, My Mom’s Mole is hosting dinner at POPUP from 5:30-9:30 p.m. (or earlier if the food sells out). There will be mole nachos (chicken and veggie options) made with My Mom’s Mole homemade tortilla chips and a new mole queso sauce.
Saturday: La Sofrita at POPUP
La Sofrita will be at POPUP beginning at 5:30 p.m. The Puerto Rican Pop Up menu will feature dishes including empanadas with vegetarian options, Puerto Rican achiote rice and stewed pink beans, and garlic mojo chicken (made with organic thighs). “And, back by popular demand, shrimp a la criolla,” said chef Anna. The shrimp is simmered in a tomato-white wine broth, with sofrito and manzanilla-stuffed olives, and served atop Puerto Rican rice. “We’ll also have yuca fries served with garlic-olive oil dip,” she added. “You think you like French fries? Wait til you try these!” This pop-up doubles as the pre-party for the Santa Cruz Warriors vs. Windy City Bulls game at Kaiser Permanente Arena, but everyone is welcome, whether or not they are attending that game. A percentage of the proceeds will benefit the development of the Scotts Valley Sports Complex.
Sunday: Oscars Viewing Party at Assembly
Event Santa Cruz is hosting its second annual gala event—complete with red carpet—to celebrate the Oscars beginning at 5 p.m. at Assembly. People are encouraged to dress in black tie. Tickets are $35 and include several savory and sweet bites throughout the evening and a glass of champagne upon arrival (additional drinks can be purchased at the new Assembly cocktail bar). There will be a large screen to watch the Oscars, and a separate, “no-talking room” for serious fans. All attendees will be entered in a drawing for Santa Cruz Warriors tickets. Purchase tickets or get more information online at eventsantacruz.com.
All events are at POPUP and/or Assembly, 1108 Pacific Ave.
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