Local chef takes taste of South Africa to USA for charity event
It’s not every day that a chef can provide truly South African cuisine to a group of Americans, but Londolozi Private Game Reserve’s executive chef recently had that privilege.
Chef Anna Ridgewell, who has been working at Londolozi since 2012, led an interactive cooking experience with mouth-watering South African dishes at Safari Sarasota in the USA on November 6.
The event was masterminded by a group of Londolozi regulars who wanted to bring some of their wildlife experience back to their hometown. Led by Michael and Terri Klauber, and hosted at Michael’s restaurant, Michaels-on-East in Sarasota, Safari Sarasota is an event that celebrates the food and wine of South Africa, but goes further to raise awareness for the need to improve access to quality education for the people and communities of South Africa’s rural areas.
The event also included live and silent auctions for the benefit of the All Heart Fund set up in 2013 to support the work of local organisation, the Good Work Foundation (GWF).
This special fund was set up by Safari Sarasota co-chair Beth Knopik in memory of her 16-year-old daughter, Leanna, who passed away suddenly after contracting a rare heart infection, shortly after the family’s first visit to Londolozi in 2011.
The aim of the All Heart Fund is to support improved learning experiences for the often-disadvantaged children living in rural areas close to Londolozi, which is what the GWF is doing.
The majority of the silent-auction items at the event were exceptional wildlife photos submitted by Londolozi’s game rangers, many of whom have guided groups of visitors led by Michael and Terri in the past. However, a precious few photos were Leanna Knopik originals, captured on her 2011 Londolozi visit.
As Michael headed up the stage to lead the guests in the live action he said, “I am so very proud to be able to share in the celebration of our special angel Leanna’s legacy tonight. We know that she is looking down on us with pride as we bring her dreams alive. Her hope of working in the villages surrounding Londolozi Game Reserve and creating new education experiences is coming true in so many ways. We can’t wait to return to Londolozi in 2017 and have another chance to visit the Hazyview Digital Learning Campus to experience the brilliant work being done by the Good Work Foundation. Terri and I are proud to stand alongside the Knopik family as we continue our work for the All Heart Fund.”
Kate Groch, CEO of GWF, attended Safari Sarasota this year, in part to thank regular supporters of this event, and to share with them what had been achieved since 2013.
“Leanna Knopik has inspired an entire community and been able to share with them the important work that we are doing for young, rural South Africans,” said Kate. “There is no price that you can put on the value of an emissary who truly believes in what you do. And because of that we have been able to build and expand our digital learning programmes that now reach more than 3 000 children.”
Read more about the Good Work Foundation:
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