Easter Seals South Florida’s 27th

Annual Festival of Chefs – “Where Culinary & Fine Arts Meet” – is one of South Florida’s longest-standing food and wine charity events. The event will be held on November 4, 2015, at Nikki Beach.

This year the Festival of Chefs will welcome Adrianne Calvo as Celebrity Chef, a Cuban/American chef, author, television personality and restaurateur. She is the owner of Chef Adrianne’s Vineyard Restaurant and Wine Bar in Miami that opened in 2007. When Calvo enrolled at the culinary school at Johnson & Wales University in 2002, she entered more than forty national competitions and received first place in ten of the competitions and was named runner-up in all the rest. In 2013, Calvo won the “Master Holiday Chef Challenge”, the youngest of the 14 competitors.

At Festival of Chefs, guests will enjoy the finest dishes from Miami’s top restaurants. In addition to a fabulous multi-course feast, guests will enjoy sampling wines and spirits from the world’s finest producers. Enhancing the culinary focus of the evening will be the amazing silent auction featuring artworks, fine jewelry, great wines, dining and travel packages and more.

Tickets are $125 in advance or $150 at the door. Additionally, there is a wide range of sponsorship opportunities available for Festival of Chefs. For more information, contact Christina Jacomino, Special Events & Marketing Associate, at 305-547-4719 or by email at CJacomino@SFL.EasterSeals.com. Proceeds will benefit Easter Seals South Florida’s Culinary Arts High School, a vocational training program for young adults ages 14 through 22 with Autism and other disabilities.

About Easter Seals South Florida

What began in 1942 as a single classroom in a Miami church basement for children with polio who were not allowed to attend the public schools, now serves more than 2,000 children, adults, and their families annually in the ten sites throughout Miami-Dade and Broward Counties. Our services focus on the individual and the family unit to meet the unique needs of those we serve.

Mission Statement: Our mission is to provide exceptional services so that children and adults living with autism, Alzheimer’s and other disabilites can live, learn, work and play in our community.

Current programs include:
Education and Therapy for Children and Youth: Specialized occupational speech, and physical therapy for children with disabilities (ages 8 weeks to 12 years old); quality child care for 60 children with special needs (ages 8 weeks to 3 years); 6 Head Start Centers providing quality early childhood education, behavior and family support for 488 low income children (ages 8 weeks to 5 years); after-school services for 185 youth with special needs; plus a summer day camp for 116 preschoolers, elementary, and high school students with autism and other disabilities.

Autism Focused Services: Year round quality elementary and middle school education for children with autism; low student teacher ratios, and hands-on learning with Board Certified Behavior Analysts and special education teachers.

Adult Day Services for Alzheimer’s: Three therapeutic adult day care centers located in Miami, Hialeah and Pembroke Pines serving 604 adults with Alzheimer’s and other memory disorders; case management, caregiver support groups, and transportation also provided; in-home respite services support an additional 134 caregivers in Miami- Dade and Broward County.

Vocational Training and Support: A culinary arts training program for 50 young adults with autism and other disabilities, ages 14-22; vocational evaluation and support services to nearly 200 youth and adults with disabilities.

Free After School Program: Free hands-on culinary arts after school program and summer camp for young adults with disabilities. Participants will have fun leaning and building their skills in the kitchen including baking, healthy cooking, catering, and small event planning. Instruction is provided by the chef instructor and certified teachers. There is a 1:3 teacher to student ratio with caring and experienced staff. Homework and tutoring assistance is also available in this program. Participants will have the opportunity to showcase their skills at special events, and develop skills their families will be proud of. Sessions are available on either Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday from 2:30 – 5:30 p.m.