School Students to Cater at Black Tie Fundraiser

MAYBE A NEW ZEALAND FIRST - SCHOOL STUDENTS TO CATER AT BLACK TIE FUNDRAISER WHERE COMMUNITY HEROES WILL BE HONOURED

Nine Mercury Bay community heroes will be honoured at a black tie dinner in Whitianga on the Coromandel Peninsula on 23 September. Retired Silver Fern Irene van Dyk will be the guest speaker at the event.

The dinner, which will be held in the Mercury Bay Area School hall, will also be a fundraiser for the school. The event was initiated from within the Mercury Bay business community.

Twelve local businesses have each pledged sponsorship in cash or in kind of $1,000 or more towards the fundraiser. These businesses will all receive a certificate of appreciation from Van Dyk.

Mercury Bay Area School is New Zealand’s largest area school with a roll of more than 900 students. The school offers a variety of unique programmes students can participate in, among them a Marine Academy and an Aircraft Building Programme.

A new initiative at the school is “The Educaterers,” a group of food technology students providing catering services to the community. They are being lead by Joanna Mannington, a teacher who’s also an internationally experienced chef.

The Educaterers will provide the catering for the fundraiser. It may be one of the first times in New Zealand a group of school students will cater a three-course meal for a formal event attended by more than 200 guests.

Kitchen facilities at Mercury Bay Area School will be used for the preparation and plating-up of all the dishes.

“The event will stretch us, that’s for sure, but we’re well-prepared and look forward to the challenge,” says Mannington.

The Mercury Bay community was asked to nominate local heroes to be honoured at the event. Nine nominations, approved by well-known local Walter Russell QSM, were received. The nominees will each receive a certificate from Van Dyk and Russell at the fundraiser.

“I’m most-impressed with the nominations received,” says Russell. “Local heroes will be honoured for a wide range of services to the community, from the arts, business and the Coromandel Rescue Helicopter Trust, to St John, the Whitianga Scallop Festival and rugby.”

After conclusion of the formalities, guests will be able to dance the night away to the sound of the Mercury Bay Big Band and local guest vocalists.

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