Share Our Strength Seacoast presents the

2012 Taste of the Nation Portsmouth

All online General Admissions tickets for the 2012 Taste of the Nation Portsmouth are sold out. A handful of VIP tickets are still available for purchase online. There are also a very limited number of General Admission, and VIP tickets available for purchase at the following locations in Portsmouth, NH:

• Blue Mermaid World Grill
• Brazo Restaurant
• The Portsmouth Brewery
• Philbricks Fresh Market

The remaining few tickets will go quickly, so buy yours today!

Share Our Strength Seacoast—fighting childhood hunger on the Seacoast and beyond since 1994.

The early years

In 1994 after just 8 weeks of planning, the first Taste of the Nation Portsmouth was held at Barnstormers Restaurant on the Pease Tradeport. Affiliated with the national anti-hunger organization Share Our Strength, a Seacoast chapter was born. Over the course of the next few years, Share Our Strength Seacoast grew the Taste of The Nation Portsmouth, and expanded the variety of fund raising and educational events to include press luncheons, Concert for Hunger, Hunger Banquet, and Change Hunger. At the height of all these activities there were up to 45 volunteers working on the various projects. In 1996 Share Our Strength Seacoast raised the most money per-capita of any participating city in the nation in the fight against hunger. In just two years, their income had gone from $8000, to over $50,000 per year. They continue to raise the most per-capita of all Taste of the Nation cities throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Growing organically

As the decade progressed, the Taste of the Nation Portsmouth continued to grow. The event moved to the Frank Jones Center, and eventually came to be held at the Redhook Brewery. It was also during this time that Share Our Strength Seacoast, in conjunction with Strawbery Banke Museum, co-sponsored a community garden on the grounds of the museum, which is still very productive and independent. As the decade drew to a close, the Taste of The Nation Portsmouth continued to set new fund raising records year after year.

New millenium, new challenges

After a one-year hiatus in 2001, some people who had been active as restaurateurs and committee members in previous years recognized that the need was greater than ever for the funds that Share Our Strength provided to the local grant recipients, and that the people of the Seacoast were clamoring for the gala Taste of the Nation Portsmouth event to return. So in 2002 a sit-down dinner was organized at the Portsmouth Brewery; with Lindbergh’s Crossing, 43 Degrees North, The Blue Mermaid, The Portsmouth Brewery and Jumpin’ Jay’s Fish Cafe providing the food. One hundred guests attended, and Share Our Strength Seacoast was back. With renewed energy, the full committee swung into action in 2003. The Taste of The Nation Portsmouth was held at the newly renovated Wentworth-By-The-Sea Hotel, and was in such high demand that all tickets were sold out two weeks prior to the event. This new venue presented many challenges, but the committee and event volunteers proved up to the task, and when all was said and done, more funds were distributed to the grant recipients in 2003 than in any other year of Share Our Strength Seacoast’s existence to that point.

Cooking Matters

2004 was another pivotal year for Share Our Strength Seacoast as they integrated Share Our Strength’s nutrition education program called Cooking Matters (formerly Operation Frontline) into their anti-hunger efforts. Cooking Matters utilizes Share Our Strength chefs, and local nutritionists to conduct six-week classes to teach struggling families how to plan, budget, shop for, and cook nutritious low cost meals. In 2004, Share Our Strength Seacoast also began organizing an annual gourmet sit-down dinner to help fund Cooking Matters on the Seacoast. In just a few short years this “Share Your Love” dinner has become the “must attend” winter event for food lovers on the Seacoast and beyond, and to date the dinners have raised over $70,000 to ensure that these vital classes can continue in our community.

National honor

On October 22, 2006 Share Our Strength Seacoast was named National Committee of the Year at the annual Share Our Strength Conference of Leaders. The awards committee cited Share Our Strength Seacoast as a model for all 65 Share Our Strength cities throughout the U.S. and Canada, for its sustained excellence and dedication to eradicating the scourge of childhood hunger on the Seacoast and beyond.

Million dollar milestone

The 2011 Taste of the Nation Portsmouth is now a part of history. More than 800 guests enjoyed a wildly successful event on June 23rd, under spectacular tents on the beautiful grounds of the Strawbery Banke Museum. The tally of money raised for the evening topped out near $140,000, a new record. The 2011 Taste of the Nation Portsmouth was 100% trash free. All consumer products used including cutlery, napkins, and glassware were either recyclable, reusable, or completely biodegradable—and 100% of the scrap food was composted for use at local farms.

Thank you Seacoast

Thanks to the dedication and hard work of the restaurant owners, chefs, volunteers, grant recipients, corporate sponsors, and Share Our Strength board members, as well as the support of a caring community, awareness of the problem of hunger on the Seacoast continues to grow, and the goal of ending childhood hunger in the next generation is becoming attainable.

By the numbers: Sold-out Taste of the Nation benefits Share Our Strength

Portsmouth Herald
by Rachel Forrest
May 29, 2011

PORTSMOUTH — Tickets for Taste of the Nation sold out in record time — there might be a few left, somewhere — so trying to lure you to buy tickets with descriptions of the great food and wine, auction items and fantastic music is futile and just plain mean. For those of you who do have tickets or who are looking ahead to next year when you get them in time, we want to let you know what you can look forward to, but anyone can still donate at any time to this great cause to help eradicate childhood hunger. To get you in the mood, a little numbers crunching……. click here to read the entire story.

$1 million to feed the hungry

Portsmouth Herald
by Amy Bevan
June 24, 2010

PORTSMOUTH — After 16 years fighting hunger throughout the Portsmouth area, Share Our Strength Seacoast, an all-volunteer hunger relief group, reached the $1 million mark with Wednesday night’s Taste of the Nation Portsmouth, a food and wine gala held on the lawns of Strawbery Banke Museum. “We couldn’t be prouder and happier,” said Lori Decato, a founding member of the group. “We started out as a handful of people from a variety of professions who thought, if we pooled our talents and rallied our friends and neighbors, we might be able to make a difference.” The sold-out event attracted 700 guests, all coming to sample the cuisines of area restaurants and enjoy beverages from more than 20 beer and wine purveyors. A silent auction and the live music of Hush, a seven-piece band from Boston, rounded out the evening. Wednesday night’s event raised more than $130,000. All proceeds will go to Share Our Strength…… click here to read the entire story.

Fight against hunger is personal for local woman

Portsmouth Herald
by Denise Wheeler
December 29, 2009

PORTSMOUTH — Jeanette Bonham took a couple of days off from Liberty Mutual where she has worked for 34 years to attend a conference in Washington, D.C., last month. She had long hoped to be a part of this annual gathering, but her career and family had come first. Now, after years of thinking about doing this, she took a seat among the crowd in the cavernous hotel ballroom for an early morning session. Forty single mothers were seated on a stage. The first to speak described the holidays at her home where the cupboards didn’t have enough food to feed her children, and the packages under the tree were empty boxes, wrapped so no one would know her family was going without gifts. Upon hearing this, Bonham, who’d waited so long to be there, left the room and slipped into the elevator….. click here to read the entire story.

Creek Man’s icy swim inspires $5K donation

Portsmouth Herald
By Dave Choate
December 15, 2009 2:00 AM
 

YORK, Maine — In this season of giving, Share Our Strength’s efforts to combat childhood hunger were given a little help. A stranger staying at the Stage Neck Inn heard about Gary “Creek Man” Sredzienski’s Sunday swim through frigid waters and the effort to raise money to fight hunger, according to Share Our Strength volunteer Denise Wheeler, and decided he wanted to help out. He wandered into a show being performed by The Serfs, a band that includes Sredzienski, and left after giving the group a $5,000 check. “That was pretty remarkable,” SOS board member Celina Adams said, noting that the man supported the fact 100 percent of donations go toward ending childhood hunger for SOS…. click here to read the entire story.

A party with a purpose

The Wire
By Matt Kanner
Wednesday, 01 July 2009

PORTSMOUTH — When Bill Shore and his sister Debbie founded Share Our Strength in 1984, they knew success would hinge on their steadfast belief that everyone is capable of making a difference in the fight to end childhood hunger. Twenty-five years later, people around the nation continue to reaffirm that belief—including the 1,000 guests gathered on the lawn of Strawbery Banke Museum on the evening of June 24. The 15th annual Taste of the Nation Portsmouth raised more than $115,000 for the fight against hunger, a new record…… click here to read the entire story.

Local Taste of Nation donors give $115,000

Portsmouth Herald
By Dave Choate
dchoate@seacoastonline.com
June 25, 2009 6:00 AM

PORTSMOUTH — In a time where the need is great, Taste of the Nation Portsmouth raised over $115,000 to combat childhood hunger in the region. With child hunger the focus of the fund-raising efforts, event sponsor Share Our Strength field manager Emily Huebner said one of the Seacoast’s largest culinary celebrations broke its previous record, drawing 800 guests in a year noted more for its economic woes than the spirit of giving. She said the success of the efforts have been different in every city, but the fact that many more are struggling appears to have hit home in the Seacoast.”It’s our neighbors,” Huebner said simply….. click here to read the entire story.

National honor for SOS

Portsmouth Herald
By Dan Tuohy
news@seacoastonline.com
November 23, 2006

PORTSMOUTH — A local hunger relief group won a big honor in the Big Easy.
Share Our Strength Seacoast earned a National Committee of the Year award when Share Our Strength chapters from around the country and Canada held their annual conference last month in New Orleans… click here to read the entire story.

For more information contact:

• Co-Chair Wendy Freedman                       wendyfreedman@letitroll.com
• Co-Chair Heidi Bogle                                heidiportsmouth@gmail.com
• Ticket Chair Sara Hamilton                       sh@toquestion.com
• Volunteer Chair Ed Draper                        3drap3r@gmail.com
• Corporate Sponsor Chair Beth Lindquist    blindquist@idc.com