The Primavera Cooks! Summer Dinner series is quite possibly the most fun you will ever have at a charity fundraising dinner. Each year we fill select Tucson Originals restaurants like Janos, Acacia and Pastiche with a lively group of socially conscious diners who want to support the programs and services of Primavera and have a great night out. Join us for one of these four or five course, wine-paired, gourmet dinners created by some of Tucson’s top chefs and find out why diners return year after year.

Announcing the 2011 Cooks! Results

In addition to the regular Cooks! dinners, this year we were excited to host two additional dinners for corporations in our community. On March 10th, we had the pleasure of hosting a fabulous dinner at Pastiche for Raytheon, which was organized by the Raytheon Women’s Network. Held during Women’s History Month, this dinner featured recipes inspired by women chefs and wines produced by women wine-makers. On August 9th, we hosted a dinner at Janos for our Title Sponsor, Cox Communications. This will be the third consecutive year that Cox has partnered with Primavera in both of these capacities. THANK YOU, COX! Learn more about how you can host a corporate event in the Cooks! Summer series.

The John M. Simpson Foundation Matching Gift is a Huge Success

During the 2011 Primavera Cooks! Season, long-time donor The John M. Simpson Foundation offered to match donations from diners, raffle ticket sales, and new sponsorships/underwriting gifts on a dollar-for-dollar basis up to $20,000. Primavera is thrilled to report that our generous donors have already given more than $17,000 towards this matching gift. And it’s not too late to help us meet the $20,000 goal. Susan Cavender, daughter of John M. Simpson and a Director of the John M. Simpson Foundation, is extending the match through the end of the year. To double your impact, please write “match” on your next donation to Primavera.

Q: How long have you been a donor to Primavera, Susan?
A: Twenty years. Primavera is one of the only non-profits that we’ve stuck with all of these years. In fact, we raised our three sons going to the Men’s Shelter every year to volunteer. You can’t put a price on that.

Q: Why do you give to Primavera?
A: We give to Primavera because it takes a community situation where people
are homeless and jobless and helps make those people feel empowered and better about their lives. Primavera helps make them productive and improves their lives. It helps people pull themselves up by their bootstraps and get back on the road again. That’s huge, I think. Primavera is a professionally run non-profit. Primavera does excellent work and it’s always growing and expanding its services to help more people.

Q: Are you willing to do a matching gift again next year?
A: Yes, absolutely YES! In fact, The John M. Simpson Foundation will match up to $30,000 next year. We are very appreciative of the hard work that Primavera has put into creating this match program, and we are thrilled with the results this year. We hope donors will continue to support Primavera and reach the match.

The John M. Simpson Foundation is a non-profit corporation established in Illinois on December 19, 1961. The purpose of the Foundation is to support religious, charitable, scientific or educational purposes, and the prevention of cruelty to children and animals. John M. Simpson, a successful Chicago businessman and entrepreneur, established the Foundation and was its primary benefactor at the time of his death in 1983. Mr. Simpson served as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of A.M. Castle & Co. from 1948 until 1981. He was a director at Marshall Fields & Company, and was actively involved in and sat on numerous charitable boards in the Chicago area. Since Mr. Simpson’s death, his two daughters, Susan Simpson Cavender and Patricia Simpson O’Kieffe, have been actively involved in the Foundation.

We look forward to dining with you in 2012! Check back in March for the 2012 schedule.

Become an Apprentice Chef

Have you ever wanted to cook in a professional kitchen alongside a world class chef for a room full of discerning diners and friends? Primavera Cooks! can make it happen as an Apprentice Chef. You choose from one of the select Tucson Original restaurants, including Tavolino, Kingfisher, Le Rendez-Vous and others, help plan the menu with the chef, participate in the preparation and creation of the dishes with professional cooks and then plate up the dinners for the servers to take to the dining room. James Beard Award winning Chef, Janos Wilder of Janos restaurant, has been sharing his recipes and techniques with aspiring chefs for nine years and personally supervises each step of his dinner. Make your dream of cooking in a restaurant a reality and sign up as a Primavera Cooks! Apprentice Chef. The cost is $250, a portion of which may be tax deductible. Apprentice Chefs are responsible for bringing or recruiting at least five diners to their dinners.

For more information about becoming an Apprentice Chef contact Primavera Cooks! Coordinator at 623-5111 x 101 or cooks@primavera.org.

Attend a Primavera Cooks! Dinner

Enjoy the fruits of the Restaurateurs’ and Apprentices’ labor at these gourmet wine dinners. Dinners are $125, $50 of which is tax deductible. All reservations are made with Primavera directly and not with the host restaurants. You must pay the Primavera Foundation in advance.

For all reservations contact Primavera Cooks! Coordinator at 623-5111 x 101or cooks@primavera.org.

Sponsor Primavera Cooks!

Highlight your business or group by joining forces with Primavera and underwriting one of our dinners. Sponsorships play a critical part in the success of the Primavera Cooks! dinners because underwriting dollars allow the money raised from each dinner to go directly toward Primavera’s programs and services for our homeless and working poor community members, while providing important recognition for those businesses and individuals.

To sponsor an event contact Primavera Cooks! Coordinator at 623-5111 x 101 or cooks@primavera.org.

Buyout a Primavera Cooks! Dinner

Garner great publicity and kudos for your company or group while also rewarding clients, staff, elected officials and vendors at an unforgettable night out. Senior management can practice ‘servant-based leadership’ by cooking dinner for and pouring wines for your entire team. Recruit vendors to buy tables to honor your corporate partnerships. Find out more now!

For buyout information contact Primavera Cooks! Coordinator at 623-5111 x 101 or cooks@primavera.org.

Contact this department

151 W. 40th Street
Tucson, AZ 85713

cooks@primavera.org

(520) 623-5111
Fax: (520) 882-5479

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