Sam MachadoMore than 600 people attended the 11th Annual Lobsterfest in Newport Beach Civic Center Park on August 11, where they enjoyed delicious meals and live music from Pinch Me! Band. There was also a $7,500 check presented to the Make-A-Wish foundation and more than 50 pounds of freshly made on-site lobster consumed.
The freshly made meals came from different companies, including Anderson Seafood, who delivered the lobster. The produce was delivered by Melissa’s and the sourdough rolls came from OC Baking Company. Speaking to Irvine Weekly exclusively, marketing and communications director Patty Mitchell told us the event was a tremendous success with a ton of support from the people who showed up. She said that a lot of people attended for the charities while others attended for the exquisite dinner. “It is really amazingly delicious lobster,” Mitchell said.
The charity volunteers also went out of their way to make sure everyone would have a day to remember. “The Make-A-Wish volunteers really killed it,” Mitchell said. “They took such good care of all of our guests, they kept the tables clean because lobster can kind of be messy. I’ve never seen such a great group of people working so hard and so tirelessly to make sure everyone had a great experience.”
Nancy Santos (Courtesy of Lobsterfest)
Mitchell, who also works in social media, said she saw numerous online posts from the public immediately after the event. “They’re just raving. They all took tons of pictures. It’s just a lot of love and they feel good that they were involved in raising money in such a delicious manner. It was a win-win for everyone — our charities and our guests. They got to enjoy the most amazing meal.”
The other charities involved with Lobsterfest included Leadership Tomorrow and Les Dames d’Escoffier. Leadership Tomorrow focuses on education, health care, the local government and more. Les Dames d’Escoffier is a group of professional women in business who are involved in the food, beverage and hospitality industry.
The volunteers behind Lobsterfest are still going over the amount of money being donated, but Mitchell said it was a great turnout with 100 percent of the proceeds going to charity. “I know we had 600 people there and a really good balance of VIP and general admission,” she said.
The public can still contribute to these charities by checking out the links below:
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