The Boys & Girls Club of Greater Kansas City has a long tradition of helping children rise above adversity in their communities and is continuing this mission in Olathe. The Olathe Chapter and TVH, recently hosted a first time fundraising event to help the club make some much needed improvements and to better serve the children in Olathe. After a year of preparation and the hard work of all those involved, the Tour de Fork 2018 fundraiser event was an amazing success.
This culinary themed event for 250 people, began with a cocktail hour featuring signature drinks from TikiCat Mixologist Puka Pumba. Guests were treated to live demonstrations from celebrity chefs Renee Kelly, host of the TV show “The Harvest” and Rob Magee, founder of Kansas City’s own Q39 Barbeque. Attendees were able to go on culinary world tour and experience different types of foods from several different cultures. In this tour, guests started close to home with KC strip steaks. They then were taken south of the border with authentic Barbacoa beef street tacos. Next, they were flown across the ocean to taste an Italian bean medley that was served with chicken. To end the world tour, guests traveled to Asia to try an Asian salad with artisan romaine and a veggie power blend.
To raise funds for the club, there was a silent, super silent, and live auction. The auctions ranged from small items, like gift cards, all the way to big ticket items, like a bike and exotic trips. The silent auction brought in approximately $19,500 and the live action raised an additional $21,100. The Golden Ticket item, a trip to the Dominican Republic, was the highest bided item of the night and brought in $6,000 by itself! Leading up to the event, multiple benefactors stepped forward and donated money, supplies, and items for the auctions, generating about $77,000 for the club!
Tour de Fork was an evening full of endless support and charitable donations from organizations within the community. Thanks to all the attendees, sponsors and organizers, Tour de Fork 2018 raised over $130,000 net for The Boys & Girls Club of Greater Kansas City Olathe Chapter! All the money from the event is going directly towards bettering the lives of Olathe’s youth.