Men Who Cook benefits effort to end domestic violence
Highland Lakes Family Crisis Center Development Manager Kim Kankel (left) and Executive Director Katherine Cholcher met to discuss their first-ever Men Who Cook fundraiser set for Oct. 25. Staff photo by Elizabeth De Los Santos
The Highland Lakes Family Crisis Center’s first-ever Men Who Cook fundraiser is Oct. 25 from 6-9 p.m. at Horseshoe Bay Resort. The center aims to engage men and boys in the fight against domestic violence and sexual assault by having them cook for a cause, said Executive Director Katherine Cholcher.
“Men are often vilified,” she said. “Anybody can be a perpetrator, and anybody can be a victim. (Our) whole prevention strategy in ending violence before it happens is to engage men and boys to create safer communities.”
The nonprofit Highland Lakes Family Crisis Center has served Blanco, Burnet, Llano, and Lampasas counties since 1983, providing critical trauma-centered services to survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.
The Oct. 25 event will feature 20 teams of male cooks, each required to serve 400 bite-size samples of their culinary creations. Participants will collect tips from attendees with proceeds going directly to support the center’s services. Registration is open through Oct. 20 on the HLFCC website.
Everyone is invited to attend. Tickets are $100 a person.
Raising money is integral to the Family Crisis Center’s mission of ending domestic and sexual violence and supporting its clients in the Highland Lakes area.
“All of our services are free,” said Kim Kankel, the center’s development manager. “If a client needs a car fixed, we fix their car. If they need legal fees or medical fees covered, we cover them. Our unrestricted funds are so important to our services and being able to provide those free to our clients.”
In addition to the competition, Men Who Cook will include information tables where attendees can learn more about the center’s services.