by intern Carly Maltzman
Photo credit: Nicole Nicholas
Attention all D.C. foodies: If you weren’t at the Carnegie Institute for Science on Thursday night, you missed an amazing opportunity to drink, dine and dish while supporting a good cause.
The 6th annual Taste of Success helped raise funds for StreetWise Partners, a non-profit organization that “empowers low-income individuals with skills for work and confidence for life.” Featuring some of DC’s finest food, guests gathered to sample everything from BLT’s tuna tartar to Shake Shack’s frozen pumpkin custard to Circa’s cocktails.
With the support of staff, volunteers and a junior board, it was food porn at its best. Lauren Libera, senior director of StreetWise Partners, oversaw all of the operations in Washington D.C.: “Part of [those operations] are our fundraising and development components,” she said. The junior board is a group of young professionals that are involved in the mentoring program at StreetWise Partners. “They want to continue and increase their involvement in the organization – one of the major components they support is planning this event.”
Guests couldn’t resist a table full of cupcakes or freshly grilled shrimp rolls. Everyone relished the selections, including Lauren: “So far I’ve had lots of samples that have been delicious and we have a great turnout already, especially for how early in the evening it is.”
Members of the junior board were heavily involved in the making of this event. Steve, a volunteer for that board, works with organizations in the D.C. area to help build volunteer teams and set up events like Taste of Success. “Some of [the food vendors] have been loyal vendors for 5 rounds of this event, but we also have a team [devoted to] food for the events as well.” he said.
The food organizers venture out into the community and speak to numerous restaurants about StreetWise Partners to see if they’re interested in becoming vendors. Steve has also used the connections at his company to help the cause: “We’ve built up this great relationship at my company with 200 people that have become aware of what we do, so it’s a great chance for this event to really broadcast to that whole community.”
Food vendors like Isabel Tores, who represented BLT Steak, were pleased to present their samples: “it’s a good event. We’re putting ourselves out there to the community so its nice…the tuna tartar is a big hit and lots of people have heard of us, so now hopefully they will come dine with us,” Tores said.
Additionally, guests purchased raffle tickets for prizes including gift certificates to some of D.C.s best restaurants.
