2010 Summer Event Scheduled!

Little Spark is excited to announce its first official collaborative event with the Creative Visions Foundation. We're planning a July 31st dinner at the gorgeous Dog Mountain Farm to benefit the Cura Orphanage in Kenya.

Little Spark got involved with the Cura Orphanage (pronounced "shura") last year after being contacted by kindred soul Hayden Nichols. Hayden has been involved with the Cura Village orphanage project since its beginnings and convinced us that this was the sort of sustainable grassroots project we wanted to be involved with. Thanks to your support, Little Spark made a $700 donation last year to sponsor a young girl named Loise Wanjiku.

Loise, like all the home's fifty children, lost her parents to HIV/AIDS

Olaiya has served several times as the "guest chef" for Dog Mountain's series of summer dinners at the farm. These are wonderful five-course meals complete with a different wine pairing for each course. The menu is seasonal, and largely dictated by what's available at the farm itself, since the goal is to provide guests with a farm-to-table dinner experience.


Olaiya's peach and blueberry galette from a Little Spark in the Park event

Proprietors Cindy and David will also be on hand to give guests a tour of their organic farm and answer questions. They have also very generously lowered their farm rental rate for us. This will allow us to charge the same rate as a typical farm dinner this year ($100) and still manage to donate over 50% of the proceeds to Cura.


Tables set for a farm dinner last fall.
Here's Olaiya's preliminary menu, subject to seasonal availability:

lamb or roasted red pepper crostini with feta and almond-mint pesto

grilled haloumi crostini with lemon and dill

spicy chilled tomato soup with goat cheese croutons

moroccan-spiced carrot salad with avocado and citrus vinaigrette

braised pork with sweet and hot peppers, currants and almonds over creamy polenta

or

polenta terrine with sweet and hot peppers, currants, almonds and blue cheese

char-grilled baby broccoli with lemon and garlic

italian plum tart with homemade fennel ice cream

Hayden and her partner Greg are planning a trip to Kenya early this summer and will be in attendance with new photographs and stories about the village's efforts to create their own sustainable organic farms.

Please consider joining us for this wonderful event, or even becoming a table captain. As a table captain, you will host a table of six for the event... filling it with your friends, coworkers or family members as you see fit. You will be able to enjoy the event with loved ones, and receive recognition and a thank you gift from Little Spark for helping us.

July 31st
3:30 to 8:30 PM
Dog Mountain Farm
Carnation, WA
$100 per guest

If you are unable to attend our dinner, but still wish to make a donation we would be honored to accept your contribution. We will honor you at the event at our "virtual table" for our supporters that weren't able to join us. Contact John for more information.

Please be advised that this is a four-hour outdoor event in a farm environment. Your children are welcome to join us but we cannot make special accommodations regarding the seating, pricing or menu. We trust your judgment as a parent to determine if the conditions and dining environment are appropriate for your child.



Just a few of Cura Orphanage's beautiful children.