FORT WORTH, TX - Kids Who Care, a non-profit international musical theatre company based in Fort Worth, announced the winners of the Thirteenth Annual Cookin’ for Kids Celebrity Chef Cook-Off,  held March 7 at River Ranch. 

For the event, 11 professional chefs, each with a notable Texan as an assistant, competed in a race against the clock to create the evening’s winning plates. Each competing team was provided with a cooler full of ingredients, two Bunsen burners and 45 minutes to create two plates. One plate was delivered and divided among the evening’s judges, and the other was auctioned off to the evening’s highest bidders. Simultaneously, five amateur chef teams competed in the amateur chef category.

In the professional chef category, first place went to chef Christof Syre of Four Seasons, assisted by Joan Trew of Williams-Trew/Joan Trew Real Estate Services. Second place went to chef Sean Merchant of The Covey, assisted by Richard Dixon, publisher of the Fort Worth Business Press. Third place was awarded to chef Juan Rodriguez of Reata, assisted by Tonya Veasey, of Open Channels Communication. In the amateur chef category, the winner was Mitch Conditt, DDS, assisted by Grant James.

Cookin’ for Kids is Fort Worth’s original celebrity chef cook-off benefit. Annually held the first Sunday in March, the charitable evening is the single largest fundraising event for Kids Who Care. All proceeds benefit Kids Who Care and help provide scholarships, youth leadership training and other support that makes Kids Who Care arts education and affordable family entertainment available in our community.

Founded in 1989, Kids Who Care offers professional musical theatre classes, leadership training, summer musical theatre camps, international cultural exchanges, a touring company and public performances. The company’s performances include taking the stage Off-Broadway at the Lamb’s Theatre, The Kennedy Center and the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. For more information, visit www.kidswhocare.org.

Bradie James will speak at a March 23rd fundraiser.

The 17^thannual Puttin’ on the Pink Fashion Luncheon, with the Dallas Cowboys lineback Bradie James as the featured speaker, is set for March 23 at the Fort Worth Convention Center

The event to benefit women’s health screenings, breast diagnostics and educational materials for the underserved of Tarrant County will begin at 10:30 a.m. with a reception followed by an 11:30 a.m. fashion show and luncheon. During the luncheon guests will hear James speak about how cancer impacted his life with the loss of his mother to breast cancer during his sophomore year at Louisiana State University.  He has since launched Foundation 56 to honor his mother’s memory by helping others overcome the devastating disease.

Since 1991, sponsors have contributed more than $2.8 million to Puttin’ on the Pink, which is hosted by the Kupferle Health Board of the Texas Health Harris Methodist Foundation.  Contributions from these sponsors has underwritten three mobile mammography units that have provided screening mammograms to more than 38,000 women and other programs.

Individual tickets for the fundraiser are $100, and table sponsorships are still available.  For more information and raffle ticket purchases, visit www.texashealth.org/pop or call 817-317-5248.

Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman escort a young model at the 2009 Beyond the Rainbow Luncheon. The pair of quarterbacks will return for the 2010 fundraiser.

Honorary co-chairs Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach are huddled up for The 22^ndAnnual Beyond the Rainbow Luncheon and Fashion Show, a fundraiser for Children’s Cancer Fund. The event is set for 11:30 a.m. April 23 in the Chantilly Ballroom of the Hilton Anatole Hotel, Dallas.

With the theme “Bright Stars. Bright Hope,” the luncheon will be preceded by a champagne reception and silent auction at 10 a.m.  Then luncheon co-chairwomen Marisa Huckin and Adelina Kainer will present celebrities teamed with 43 young cancer patients and numerous pediatric cancer survivors in a special runway show, sponsored by Dillard’s.  KDFW FOX 4 Anchors Steve Eagar and Clarice Tinsley will serve as masters of ceremonies at the event. 

Among those serving as runway escorts for the Children’s Medical Center patients modeling in this year’s fashion show will be Daryl and Diane Johnston, Drew Pearson, Scott Murray, Jocelyn White and current members of the Dallas Cowboys.

Tickets for the Beyond the Rainbow Luncheon and Fashion Show are $150 each, and tables of 10 are available for $1,250.  For reservations and more information, please contact Children’s Cancer Fund at 972-664-1450 or visit the Web site at www.childrenscancerfund.net.  Proceeds from the event will help advance pediatric cancer research and treatment programs at Children’s Medical Center and UT Southwestern Medical Center. Since its inception in 1982, Children’s Cancer Fund has donated more than $7 million to help find a cure for childhood cancer.

Among the programs supported by Children’s Cancer Fund are the Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Fellowship Program at Children’s Medical Center and the Children’s Cancer Fund Comprehensive Center for Research in Pediatric Oncology at UT Southwestern Medical Center. 

Children’s Cancer Fund has created a special calendar book for this year’s luncheon that may be purchased during and after the event in support of pediatric cancer research.  Provided by the T.C. Lupton, Jr. Family Foundation, the calendar will include original artwork by young cancer patients.  Calendars are $25 each, with proceeds going to Children’s Cancer Fund.  To purchase copies in advance or after the luncheon, please call Children’s Cancer Fund at 972-664-1450 or visit www.childrenscancerfund.net.

Designer handbags are planned as a special calorie-free “dessert” at The Special Olympics Texas Bag Ladies Luncheon, planned for 11:30 a.m. Friday at Rolling Hills Country Club, 401 Lamar Blvd. East, Arlington.

The event will feature a keynote address by recording artist Melissa Lawson, winner of “Nashville Star” and Arlington resident. Lunch will be followed by a designer handbag raffle as part of the fund-raising effort for Special Olympics.

Tables can be purchased for $600 and individual tickets are available for $50. Additional tickets for the purse drawing can be purchased for $25 each. For more information, please contact the Greater Fort Worth area office of Special Olympics at 817-332-3433.

Special Olympics Texas is a privately funded, non-profit organization that provides year-round sports training and competition for more than 32,240 children and adults with intellectual disabilities in the state. More information is available by visiting www.specialolympicstexas.org.

The Halo Society, an auxiliary dedicated to helping abused children, will host it annual fundraiser, Cowtown Casino, from 7 to 11 p.m. March 6 at River Ranch, 500 N.E. 23 St, Fort Worth.

Casino games, a silent auction, dancing and food are planned for the benefit. Individual tickets cost $75 per person.

Halo Society is a business and networking group dedicated to abused and neglected foster children in Tarrant County. Cowtown Casino is one of four service projects the club organizes annually.

More information is available by contacting event chairwoman Katherine Dell at 817-992-2185 or visiting www.halosociety.com.

Kathy Whitworth

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Fort Worth will benefit from the 2010 Kathy Whitworth Invitational (www.kathywhitworthinvitational.com) to be held March 14-16 at the Mira Vista Country Club in Fort Worth.

Proceeds from this international junior girls golf championship nationally ranked by Golfweek/Titleist and recognized by the AJGA Polo Golf Rankings will benefit the non-profit organization, which helps more than 12,000 disadvantaged Fort Worth youth each year. Sponsorship opportunities are still available, and details can be found at www.kathywhitworthinvitational.com

Whitworth, seven-time LPGA Player of the Year, boasts six major wins and 88 career wins, an all-time record for both men’s and women’s U.S. Tours. She was the Associated Press Athlete of the Year in 1965 and 1967, was inducted into the LPGA’s Hall of Fame in 1975 and won the PGA First Lady of Golf Award in 2006.

This year, 72 girls aged 12 to 18, from as close as Fort Worth and as far as South Korea, will compete in the Kathy Whitworth Invitational. Fourteen of those girls hail from the Dallas/Fort Worth area, and they include Tezira Abe, Arlington; Talia Campbell, Dallas; Grace Choi, Dallas; Emily Collins, Colleyville; Susanna Feather, Fort Worth; Katie Grady, Mansfield; Kaci McCarten, Plano; April McCoy, Carrollton; Chelsea Mocio, Fort Worth; Rachel Mulkey, Flower Mound; Jennifer Park, Carrollton; Natalie Reeves, Euless; Amy Ruengmateekhun, Garland; and Chaney Uhles, Fort Worth.

International competitors will include golfers from Taiwan, Thailand, Czech Republic, South Korea, Mexico, Canada, England, Italy, Japan, Philippines and Trinidad and Tobago.

The Kathy Whitworth Invitational was established in 1999 with two primary goals: to give talented girls the opportunity to participate at the highest tier of competitive golf on a premier championship course and to generate funds to support the mission of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Fort Worth.

“The young women who take part in this tournament are truly the golf stars of the future,” said Kathy Whitworth, “and what an honor it is for all of us to be part of the amazing work that the Boys & Girls Club accomplishes in this community.”

Whitworth currently resides in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and co-leads a youth golf clinic each year with the Mira Vista Country Club golf staff, prior to the invitational. This year, the clinic will be held at 5:30 p.m. March 11 and will include more than 100 disadvantaged youth from this area.
call 817.834.4711 or visit www.kathywhitworthinvitational.com for details.

The Colleyville Woman’s Club 25th Annual Luncheon and Fashion Show Benefit, this year entitled “Rhythm and Hues,” has been set for March 26 at the Hyatt Regency DFW Hotel.

Saks Fifth Avenue at the Dallas Galleria will once again combine with Jan Strimple Productions for the event featuring emcee Scott Murray. Doors will open at 9:30 a.m. for the charitable event’s live, silent and big board auctions.

Tables for 10 with premier runway seating cost $1,500, and platinum tables with premium seating are $1,250. Gold tables are $1000, and individual tickets are also available. For information and to purchase tickets, visit the Web site at www.c-w-c.org, email info@c-w-c.org or phone the CWC hotline at 817-358-1805.

In 2009, Colleyville Woman’s Club donated more than $135,000 to local charities. The mission of the club is to enhance the community through education, volunteer service, charitable fundraising and other member activities.

Chairwoman Sheila Jayne Reynolds

Tarrant County’s annual Go Red For Women event, sponsored by the American Heart Association, is set for Feb. 16 at The Omni Fort Worth Hotel.

The fundraiser will begin with a mimosa reception at 10:30 a.m., which will include a silent auction. Also featured will be Estee Lauder lipstick stations where women can find the perfect shade of red.

With Sheila Jane Reynolds serving as luncheon chairwoman and Joyce Pate Capper taking the honorary chairwoman post, the luncheon and program are scheduled for noon. The event, taking place during National Heart Month, emphasizes heart health for women will be themed “Faces of Heart.”

Reynolds, who lost her mother to heart disease, said  ‘My mother really wanted to live a long and healthy life but didn’t have the chance.  This is why I ‘Go Red’ this February with the American Heart Association in Tarrant County. Together, we can all make a difference and save a life right here in our community.’

For more information or to purchase a ticket, call 817-698-5411.

“Visions of Vegas - Playing for Others,”  the third annual Southlake Newcomers Club casino fundraiser, is set for 6 p.m. March 6 at the Southlake Hilton. 

The event will be filled with casino gaming, auctions and live entertainment, with proceeds going to the club’s charitable causes. Tickets in advance are priced at $50 per person and $95 per couple. At the door, individual tickets will be priced at $60. Information is available at 817-233-3371 or at www.southlakenewcomers.com.

 The Southlake Newcomers Club,  a 501(c)3 charitable organization, has donated more than $70,000 the past two years to local charities and scholarships for high school seniors.  The organization, open to residents of Southlake and neighboring communities, is a social and civic club providing opportunities for friendship, community service and becoming acquainted the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

The “souper” fundraiser, Empty Bowls, will feature savory soups, delicious desserts and artistic bowls at the annual event, to be held this year from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Feb. 19 at Amon G. Carter Exhibit Hall, Will Rogers Memorial Center, 3401 W. Lancaster, Fort Worth.

This special luncheon, which benefits Tarrant Area Food Bank, is an opportunity to taste soups and desserts from top Fort Worth chefs, plus select a handmade bowl from among 2,000 created or painted by professional, recreational and student artists.

Tickets cost $25 and are sold only in advance, either online at www.tafb.org or by calling Susan Frye, community events director, at 817-332-9177, extension 10. Susan Frye, Community Events Director, 817-332-9177, ext. 110.

Empty Bowls’ proceeds benefit Tarrant Area Food Bank, founded in 1982. The non-profit organization is the primary source of donated food for 300 major hunger-relief programs in Fort Worth and the surrounding counties of Tarrant, Denton, Johnson, Hood, Parker, Cooke, Bosque, Erath, Hamilton, Hill, Palo Pinto, Somervell and Wise. Each month, the network distributes groceries to more than 40,000 families and serves more than 500,000 meals and snacks on agency sites. For details, visit www.tafb.org.