St. Vincent de Paul Family Kitchen to host fundraising event

Kelly Urban, The Tribune-Democrat, Johnstown, Pa.
·3 min read

Jul. 6—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — This event is all it's quacked up to be.

St. Vincent de Paul Family Kitchen's "Sip, Rock and Duck Drop" will be held from 4 to 10:30 p.m. Saturday at Peoples Natural Gas Park, 90 Johns St., downtown Johnstown.

"I am extremely proud of our small but mighty committee who pooled such amazing talent in for this fundraiser, and we are especially thankful for our amazing sponsors and volunteers for this event," said Greg Karcher, manager of St. Vincent de Paul Family Kitchen. "We are looking forward to a fun family day full of entertainment to raise money for a great cause."

The fundraising event will feature Anthony Rosano and the Conqueroos performing at 7 p.m. and Tab Benoit taking the stage at 9 p.m.

Benoit is an award-winning blues guitarist from Louisiana whose playing combines a number of blues styles, primarily Delta blues.

He previously played in Johnstown at the AmeriServ Flood City Music Festival.

Also featured will be the duck target drop raffle, which will give attendees a chance to win several cash prizes of $1,000 for first place, $500 for second place, $300 for third place and $200 for fourth place.

"There's water shooting out off of this forklift to a target, and then we ask everyone to count down and the ducks shoot out all over the tarp," said Megan Foster, advisory board member with St. Vincent de Paul Family Kitchen.

"It really is a lot of fun."

A total of 1,200 tickets will be sold for the raffle.

Tickets are $5 per duck.

Food vendors on site include The Phoenix Tavern, Main Street Pizzeria, Red's Texas BBQ and Good Times Ice Cream Bus.

A silent auction will feature a signed guitar by Tab Benoit and Pittsburgh Steelers memorabilia.

There will also be a cash bar, two 50/50 drawings, local vendors and a children's corner with bounce houses, games and face-painting.

This year's goal is to raise $50,000.

"Through COVID-19, the number of individuals that the kitchen needed to serve increased at least by 50 to 100 on a daily basis," Foster said. "Not only did the number increase, but the cost also increased. The average cost to serve one meal was about $4, and today we see at about $6 per person. It used to be around 125 to 150 meals, and now we're up over 200 meals a day, Monday through Friday."

Funds will also be used to pave the parking lot and create an outdoor eating area for the Family Kitchen, which is located at 231 Bedford St., Johnstown.

"The parking lot is in dire need of pavement and safety, as well as a place for people to sit," Foster said. "There's one picnic table, and we need more, and we need a bike rack or two. We want to work with local schools and businesses to have the picnic tables and bike racks made."

Foster said that the hope is attendees will have an enjoyable day, but also understand that what they're coming for not only helps those in need, but also brings the community together.

"We serve anybody and everybody, no matter what," she said. "We welcome volunteers to not only serve at the kitchen, but on our committee for various events. It's a need not only in our community, but across the country."

Event sponsors are Ron's Tires, Bob Colvin RE/MAX Realtors and 1st Summit Bank.

Admission is $20 in advance and $25 at the gate.

Tickets can be purchased online at www.svdpcares.org or www.jaha.org.

For more information, call 814-539-7811.