Hens roamed during the cocktail reception at the Friends of Boston's Homeless farm dinner on September 15. The 125-guest function raised around $32,500 and was held for the first time at the Farm, a four-acre plot at Long Island Shelter, about 30 minutes outside of the city. The farm produces organic fruits, vegetables and herbs, as well as hen and bee products, and supplies 300,000 pounds of local produce each year to the Friends of Boston's Homeless. In turn, the organization feeds 800 of the city's homeless each day.
"We've done a fund-raising harvest dinner in previous years; however, we've always done it at a restaurant in town," said Jamie O'Neal O'Loughlin, the host organization's development coordinator of special events. "The thinking behind this year's dinner was to bring guests closer to the core of our organization's mission, actually visiting the Farm and seeing the Long Island Shelter. A successful fund-raiser not only raises money, but it also solidifies a connection between a supporter and an organization."
Hosting the event outside of a restaurant also gave planners the freedom to call on multiple chefs to prepare a seasonal meal that made the function a "truly unique destination event," O'Neal O'Loughlin said. Participating chefs included Joanne Chang of Flour Bakery and Cafe, Chris Douglass of Ashmont Grill, Gordon Hamersley of Hamersley's Bistro, and Barbara Lynch of Gruppo, who all sourced most of their ingredients from the farm and local purveyors.
"We encountered a few challenges in terms of product availability," said O'Neal O'Loughlin. But ultimately, each guest got his or her fill of everything from fennel tortellini with slow-roasted eggplant to duck with garlic-roasted potatoes and upside-down apple and blackberry cake with nutmeg crème fraîche.
The venue's somewhat remote location also presented challenges. "We ran into a few issues in terms of physically transporting equipment, food and beverage, staff, etc.," O'Neal O'Loughlin said. To smooth over the process, the chefs teamed up with the crews from Be Our Guest Inc. and the Catered Affair to coordinate multiple pickups, deliveries, and hand deliveries.
