Members of the Michael’s Feat Board of Directors and Advisory Board are pictured with Salt Creek Grille owner Steve Bidgood at the recent benefit for the local charity. Standing, left to right: Peggy Bertorelli, Patty Reiff, Tracy Bean, Kaitlyn Reiff, Bidgood, Amy Krok, Greg Acquaviva, Tom Reiff, Cristina Olsen, Rebecca Reiff, Kristin Belger, Susan Hudome. Sitting: Adam and Dana Puharic and Tara Cadet. (Photo by Tom Zapcic Photography)
Press release from Culinary Communications
In a sold-out event hosted at Salt Creek Grille on April 27, the 13th Annual Wine and Martini Tasting Fundraiser raised $52,000 for Michael’s Feat, a local charity that provides support to families carrying and caring for seriously ill newborns.
The 2016 event brings Salt Creek Grille close to the $1 million mark of funds raised for local charities, with the restaurant raising more than $900,000 for 13 local nonprofit organizations to date. With a different beneficiary designated each year, 100 percent of the proceeds from the event go directly to the selected organization, with an emphasis on charities serving children’s needs.
Salt Creek Grille’s annual fundraising event is supported by donations from Salt Creek Grille and its vendors and local businesses that provide food, wine and other services. As in past years, several wine vendors poured over one hundred premium wines to taste and specialty martinis for guests to sample. The lavish amounts of delicious offerings included an artisanal cheese table donated by Sickles Market, and a raw bar provided by The Lusty Lobster of Highlands. The Bobby Boyd Trio entertained the event’s 150 attendees with live jazz music, and a live auction, with NJ 101.5 personality Big Joe Henry as auctioneer, raised $14,500.
Michael’s Feat was created and named in loving memory of Adam and Dana’s Puharic’s newborn son Michael, who was born on July 29, 2000 and died 83 hours later due to a chromosome disorder known as Trisomy 13. The Matawan-based charity is dedicated to providing comfort and easing the burden for parents carrying and caring for seriously ill newborns in Monmouth and Ocean counties. To date, Michael’s Feat has helped hundreds of local families and raised over $1.6 million dollars.
Funds raised at the April 27 event will help finance the Michael’s Feat Parent Suite at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch. Michael’s Feat has also provided and manages rooms at CentraState Medical Center in Freehold, and at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune. The rooms provide a home away from home where families can rest and be close to their newborn.
Both Fund Chairperson Dana Puharic and Event Chairperson Tara Cadet thanked Salt Creek owner Steve Bidgood for selecting Michael’s Feat as the beneficiary of the event. Tara eloquently shared the NICU story of her premature son, Carter, and the role that Michael’s Feat played in providing emotional and financial support that helped ease the stresses that she and her husband, Jason, were facing during that difficult time. Dana graciously explained that this help cannot be provided without the support of events like this and all of the sponsors, vendor and auction item donors.
To further public awareness about the charity’s mission, Salt Creek Grille flies a flag with the charity’s logo at the waterfront restaurant’s site for a whole year.
“Our community is fortunate to have so many excellent grass roots charities doing such great work,” said Bidgood, who was named “New Jersey’s Restaurateur of the Year 2015” by the New Jersey Restaurant and Hospitality Association. “We are honored to do our part by providing Michael’s Feat with an event to help raise funds and public awareness.”
For further information and details about Michael’s Feat, please contact Tara Cadet at (732)241-0370 or [email protected].
