Beneficial bash

The Central Kitsap Food Bank does a lot for the county.

The Central Kitsap Food Bank does a lot for the county.

Now it’s time for the folks of Kitsap County to give back to the food bank.

The CK Food Bank is hosting its first Bread Basket Bash event Saturday, May 31, at the Silverdale Beach Hotel to raise money for the facility.

Kathy Ungren, a CK Food Bank employee, said this is the first-ever fund-raiser for the food bank and money raised at the event will go toward meeting the growing demand for food in the area, replacing aging freezers and storage units at the facility and eventually purchasing a new building for the CK Food Bank to call home.

“We eventually want to start a capital campaign to purchase a facility of our own and we decided we’d start out with a fund-raiser,” Ungren said.

She said food bank employees and volunteers hope the Bread Basket Bash will bring in at least $10,000 for the CK Food Bank.

The Bread Basket Bash is a no-host cocktail reception and includes a chicken, salmon or vegetarian pasta dish as well as both a live and silent auction.

Live auction items include a 1902 Limoges porcelain vase, a “fighter pilot for a day” experience and a six-day, six-night safari in South Africa.

“It’s less than half of what you’d pay for a safari,” Ungren said.

During the “fighter pilot for a day” experience, people train in an airplane at Boeing Field and later “engage” in six dog fights.

Silent auction items include gift certificates and various baskets from local businesses.

“It’s just really a variety, really representative of the shops in this area,” Ungren said. “We have had just tremendous response from the community in response for donations.”

The Central Kitsap High School Jazz Band and Orchestra will perform at the Bread Basket Bash and Ungren said there is no strict dress code for the function.

“I think it’s a come-as-you-are event,” she said.

Tickets for the Bread Basket Bash cost $45 each or $40 a piece if filling a table of 10. Call the CK Food Bank at (360) 692-9818 or stop by the food bank at 3790 NW Anderson Hill Road in Silverdale near Central Kitsap High School. The food bank is open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday-Friday. Ungren encourages people to purchase Bread Basket Bash tickets by Wednesday, May 28.