Chefs for PATH to help plug funding gap due to state budget stalemate

Posted on March 21, 2016

Stu Hummel (left) and Parker Kinsley of Epiphany Farms won the 2015 Chefs for Path at the BCPA. (WJBC file photo)

By Eric Stock

BLOOMINGTON – A local human service group is counting on its largest fundraiser to account for a lack of state support during the budget stalemate.

Chefs for PATH will be April 7 at the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts. PATH executive assistant Cathy Beck told WJBC’s Scott Laughlin the agency is waiting on more than $100,000 from the state.

PODCAST: Listen to Scott’s interview with Beck and Lozada on WJBC.

“We do elder abuse for the state so we investigate adult abuse for people who are over 60 and disabled,” Beck said. “Working with homeless people, there’s no money there.”

Chefs for PATH is a friendly competition between some of the top local chefs from five local businesses; Baxters, Biaggi’s, Rosati’s and Swingers Grille.. The top two votegetters will compete in a live cook-off. There’s also a cash bar and live and silent auctions.

This year’s competing chefs will be ask to prepare a dish with Angus beef, turnips. Fuji apples, basil and garbanzo beans. Chef Richard Lozada from Westminster Village said it took him an hour to determine what he planned to serve.

“You do some research, you find out what’s the most popular dish, what’s in and what’s out,” Lozada said. “It comes natural to a chef”

PATH provides crisis response services in 32 counties in Illinois.

Ticket information is available at www.pathcrisis.org. Beck said about 40 tickets remain as of Monday morning.

Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected].

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