The Woodward News

Local News

January 27, 2013

High Plains Outreach sets annual food fair

Chris Cooper Woodward News

Woodward, Okla. — The High Plains Outreach Center will once again be offering a taste of the world as part of its annual Ethnic Food Fair fundraiser.

The 2013 food fair will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 2 at the First Christian Church.  Proceeds from the event will go to benefit the Outreach Center, which provides temporary shelter to the working homeless.

Executive Director of the Outreach Center Kristi Prophet described the food fair as "a come-and-go affair."

After paying a fee at the door, attendees will be "free to go around to all the tables sampling the various foods," she said.

Prophet explained that the tables are sponsored by different community groups who have prepared foods that reflect different cuisines from all over the world from Greek to Italian and even Cambodian.

"There are several organizations that will have tables set up, the First Christian Church, the Classy Lassies of the Red Hat Society, and the Presbyterian Women's group just to name a few," she said.

The Northwestern Oklahoma Literacy Council (NWOLC) will itself be sponsoring an impressive 8 tables for the event.

NWOLC Program Coordinator Jan Case-Wills said, "I'd talked about participating in the Ethnic Food Fair at the NWOLC Christmas party with our students and they were all so eager to help. I told them if any of them couldn't financially afford to cook all the food to let us know and the literacy board would help out and they all said 'No no no, we're a part of this community and sometimes people don't see us that way and we want to be a part of the community and help another organization the way you help us.'"

NWOLC students participating in the Ethnic Food Fair include people hailing from Cambodia, El Salvador, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Belize, Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico.

Prophet said she is excited about having the literacy students participate.

"I think this year will be special with NWOLC providing real representation from those countries, so we'll have actual authentic food from those countries," she said.

Food won't be the only attraction of the evening, however.

"We're also raffling off Oklahoma City Thunder tickets with parking passes which will be drawn during the food fair," Prophet said.

In addition, she said she is in the process of lining up live musical entertainment for attendees to enjoy while they browse the various cultural dishes.

Prophet also added that she will have a booth set up with information about the Outreach Center as well as brochures and sign up sheets for those interested in becoming a "Friend of the Center."

"We are currently looking for individuals, families, organizations, and companies who would like to commit a monthly pledge. This would help High Plains Outreach to better budget our services and programs, as well as helping us reinstate programs that have slipped away due to lack of funding," she said.

Prophet said these programs include things like assisting clients moving into new homes with their first month's deposit.  As well, she said the center would like to expanding its realm of services to include some life skill workshops.

"The center serves 7 surrounding counties, and the more monthly pledges we can rely on, the more people we can help," she said.

For more information about how you can aid the shelter, contact the High Plains Outreach Center at 254-5162.

You can also call to reserve tickets for the upcoming Ethnic Food Fair, or stop by the shelter at 1220 7th St. to purchase tickets for the food fair and the Thunder raffle.

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