By Nathaniel Miller

Special to the Times

Fresh food is not only good for the body but the local community, as the Washington County Harvest of Hope gears up for the second annual Farm to Table Dinner fundraiser, set for this weekend in Whipple.

The Harvest of Hope Farm to Table Dinner will be held at the Holy Smoke Event Center in Whipple on Saturday from 6 to 9 p.m. Tickets are $25 per person and include appetizers, entrees and dessert. The dinner is one of three major fundraisers that the Washington County Harvest of Hope uses to raise funds for a variety of programs that are put on throughout the year.

“We wanted an event that related in some way to what we do and this tied in very nicely with our Community Garden program,” said Cindy Brown, a board member for Harvest of Hope. “We also wanted an event that involved other community resources that play a part in feeding hungry people. This year, the River City Farmers Market is partnering with us to provide much of the fresh produce our chefs will use in their dishes.”

The dinner will feature a menu prepared by local chefs with locally-grown ingredients, including prime rib, hickory smoked pork loin with creamed carbonara sauce, and vegetable lasagna. The Marietta Brewing Company will provide craft beer and wine will also be available. There will also be live music during the dinner hour and a silent and live auction will be held for pieces of artwork from talented local artists, gift certificates from local establishments and many themed baskets, such as a “Weekend in Marietta” basket and a “Marietta College Fan” basket.

“The idea for the first Farm to Table Dinner came from a Marietta College student, Taylor Hanigosky, who worked with us last year through the Next Gen program,” said Susan Allender, also a Harvest of Hope board member. “The Next Gen students serve with nonprofit organizations to gain hands-on experience and then develop proposals for a grant to help in some area of that organization. Taylor’s proposal for the Farm to Table Dinner as a fundraising event was awarded the grant.”

All proceeds from the event go to support Washington County Harvest of Hope, an organization founded by Karen Kumpf in 2005 with a mission to glean, grow and give fresh food back to the local community. Harvest of Hope rescues food that is close to its expiration date and might otherwise be thrown away, and then distributes that food to local food pantries, community meal programs and other agencies such as EVE, The O’Neill Center, Washington County Home and many others. The organization has more than 12 major food donors and serves 11 food pantries and eight community meal programs each month. In addition, Harvest of Hope has six community gardens throughout the county, three of which are in Marietta.

Allender said this event is one of their biggest fundraisers for the year and was so successful in 2015 that they had to change venues this year to accommodate a larger audience.

“This is only our second year for this event and last year was such a huge success that it sold out, so we moved the location to Holy Smoke Event Center to seat more people,” said Allender. “A ticket not only gets you a fantastic meal, an evening of fun and fellowship, but all of the proceeds support a great cause.”

Tickets can be purchased at Peoples News in Marietta, Peoples Bank, the Marietta-Washington County CVB or by contacting Harvest of Hope at 740-538-8811 for more information.