Syracuse, NY -- There’s a taste of the Rescue Mission at Taste of Syracuse this year, a first for the Mission and a first for the event. It’s a matter of need for the caregivers and a sudden hole filled in the usually booked annual event in downtown Syracuse that runs 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. today. “Our fundraising...
Napoleon Munoz, Syracuse, serving wings for The Rescue Mission at Taste of Syracuse, Clinton Square, Syracuse, NY.
Syracuse, NY -- There’s a taste of the Rescue Mission at Taste of Syracuse this year, a first for the Mission and a first for the event.
It’s a matter of need for the caregivers and a sudden hole filled in the usually booked annual event in downtown Syracuse that runs 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. today.
“Our fundraising is significantly behind this year. Significantly. Probably to the tune of $325,000,” said Dede Snyder of the Rescue Mission. “We really need to close the gap any way we can to raise money.”
Landing a booth at Taste of Syracuse was a long shot idea cooked up by the Rescue Mission’s creative team, which is comprised of Rescue Mission program staff members, Snyder said.
The team created the project HOPE365 to come up with new ways to recruit riders for the Rescue Mission’s signature event, Ride for the Rescue, scheduled for July 17 at Syracuse’s Inner Harbor.
One team member thought a Rescue Mission booth at Taste of Syracuse might be a way to raise desperately needed funds, Snyder said.
On May 20, Dan Sieburg, the Rescue Mission’s director of hospitality services, contacted Taste of Syracuse organizers. Sieburg was told sorry, Taste has been sold out since February.
But a week later, Sieburg received a call back: There had been a vendor cancellation; it was too late to recruit another vendor to fill the void at Taste of Syracuse. Was the Rescue Mission still interested?
“We were told if we came up with a plan, a menu and figured out the logistics, we could be there,” Snyder said. “We got very busy.”
Since the Rescue Mission already serves food — the organization served 226,059 meals in 2009 — it was a matter of pressing the kitchen staff into action.
So a Rescue Mission menu favorite, Mary’s Mac ‘n Cheese — created by Rescue Mission cook Mary Cunningham — is on the menu for Taste of Syracuse. It’s $3. Cunningham abandoned vacation plans to cook for Taste.
Also on the menu are Dave’s Big Wings — chicken wings — and fresh donuts, donated and created by Rescue Mission food services director Dave Bachus.
All of the food is what is served to people who dine at the Rescue Mission and the organization is the only nonprofit selling food at the two-day event.
Taste of Syracuse organizer Pam Levine knows that, and wants the public to know it. Taste of Syracuse donated the booth to the Rescue Mission. The booth space would normally fetch $1,200.The booth is No. 79, on the side of the Atrium building facing the Clinton Square fountain.
Snyder said the hope is visitors will realize where the money is going and why.
“There’s more need today,” Snyder said. “We had a 10 percent jump last year from 2008 in the number of unique individuals using our services. We saw 1,155 different people using our emergency shelters for a place to stay in 2009. It was a 9 percent jump over 2008.”
Levine is hoping for a hit with the Rescue Mission booth.
“The food is actually very good,” Levine said. “It’s good food for people who for some reason need that support. It isn’t fried bologna or rubber meatloaf. I just wanted to give the Rescue Mission a chance to showcase what they do.
“Even though they’re servicing the under-served, it doesn’t mean the food is third rate.”