More than 90,000 people attend a concert by Eddie Money at the Taste of Pinellas at Vinoy Park, a fundraiser which brought in more than $300,000 for All Children’s Hospital.
ST. PETERSBURG – Let them eat! That’s what more than 90,000 people did during the June 3rd weekend at the largest food festival and biggest fundraiser in the area.
Taste of Pinellas at Vinoy Park is an annual event, this year raising more than $300,000. The Taste was not only a weekend of delicious food, music, and fun for all ages, but it also was for a good cause.
Half of the proceeds raised went to the All Children’s Hospital. The money collected is split 50/50 with All Children’s and the restaurant vendors. All Children’s provides specialized care for kids from newborn to teenager and is nationally recognized as being an outstanding clinical center.
The money from Taste will be used to build a new hospital in St. Petersburg. The hospital plans to be nine stories, 1 million square feet with a cost estimated at $294 million.
The hospital is scheduled to open 2008. Joel Momberg, executive vice president of the All Children’s Hospital Foundation says the healthcare facility has simply run out of space and needs more room to care for its patients.
The money from Taste is added to the $4 million raised from the All Children’s two-day telethon, also held the first weekend in June.
This is the 22nd year for the telethon, which is recognized as being No. 1 in the United States through the Children’s Miracle Network.
The Taste of Pinellas has always been associated with the All Children’s Hospital. It started 19 years ago as a one-day event. It was somewhat small with just a dozen restaurants and a couple of local musicians participating.
“The crowds kept getting bigger, so we made it bigger,” says Momberg. Today more than 50 restaurants are involved, some even closing shop for the day so they can devote all their time and energy into the Taste.
The music has come a long way, too. Rock legends such as KC and The Sunshine Band, Survivor, and Eddie Money played their top blasts from the past. Groupies danced and sang word for word their favorite hits. Celebrity chefs were there to share recipes and offer samples.
Big kids and small kids had many ways to exert their energy such as playing on a giant waterslide, scaling a rock-climbing wall, and talking with costume characters including the Rug Rats and Ronald McDonald.
Food lovers enjoyed anything from chicken quesadillas to cheese cake flavored frozen coffee drinks. There was even a “make your own” snow cone station.
A water miser was available for those who wanted to cool off.
Of course, a celebration wouldn’t be complete without fireworks. Months of planning goes into this weekend of fun. Several thousand volunteers were on hand to help with the fundraiser.
“I think we have a generous community, we (All Children’s Hospital) do a good job getting the word out about the event and what the money is used for and the people respond,” says Momberg.
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