Cooking For A Good Cause: St. Susan’s Battle of the Badges cooking fundraiser to host finale Thursday
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St. Susan center's battle of the badges wraps up this week, and during last week's City Council work session, Melissa Paterniti spoke with the council on the event, also thanking some council members for their participation.
City Council President Regina Brackman, D-Ward 3, Councilman Jeremy Engquist, D-At Large, and Councilman Andrew Faulkner, R-Ward 6, all participated in the Battle of the Badges as judges.
"This is a fundraiser that myself and St. Susan's have been doing for the last two weeks," Paterniti said. "We're coming up on the third week. so, I wanted to come and invite you all, talk to the community, and tell them why we were doing this."
The battle of the badges is now entering its fourth week, set to wrap up on Thursday. Doors for the fundraiser's finale open at 5 p.m. with the cookoff taking place from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at St. Susan's Center, 31, Water St., Jamestown. Judges are Jennifer Lundmark, Jamestown Cummins Engine Plant employee and St. Susan's Center board member; Jim Jaroszynski, Falconer mayor; and David Brainard, owner of The Crooked Stick and brother of Cherie Rowland, St. Susan's Center executive director.
Michelle Torrens and Carol Sweeney from the Jamestown Cummins Engine Plant will be cooking in honor and recognition of the Falconer Fire Department. Andy Caruso and Jace Blake will be cooking on behalf of the Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office. Camille Hodnett and Patrick Graham will be cooking in honor and recognition of EMS professionals throughout Chautauqua County.
Paterniti said a few years ago st susan started this fundraiser, coming before the Jamestown Local Development Corporation to get money and everything else involved. Then, she said, the fire alarm would keep going off, which led her to the idea of doing something for the fundraiser that would be the Jamestown Fire Department versus the Jamestown Police Department.
"The board had tabled it for a little while, and they came to me this year to ask if I wanted to try to do it," Paterniti said. "So, we tried to do Battle of the Badges, the Ladle Showdown, taking and wanting police officers, fire departments from all across the county to come to St Susan's and cook."
Paterniti added there were some concerns about getting 200 servings of soup with this event, noting that 200 servings of soup is what St. Susan's provides to the community in a day. She also noted the recent vandalism of St. Susan's freezer, which St Susan's is looking to raise money for now as well, connecting to this event that was already in the works.
"This whole thing was already kind of in the works," Paterniti said. "What we wanted to do was we wanted to kind of showcase the public safety, fire, EMS, police, because they are the ones that are out there every day, dealing with the people that are less fortunate."
Paterniti also thanked the council for its work cleaning up places in the city such as Brooklyn Square.
"It is very, very unfortunate that we have people in this community that don't have advocates, they don't have family members," Paterniti said. "And if they do, they may be impertinent. So, this whole thing turned into 'Let's show the community what St. Susan's is all about.'"
St. Susan's does not just provide meals for people, Paterniti added, saying the agency also has workforce development, with children that come down throughout the summer to help clean tables and learn to serve the community's less fortunate. Paterniti invited council members to come down and get a tour of St. Susan's if they have not before.
Mayor Kim Ecklund and County Executive PJ Wendel are set to be the Battle of the Badges' masters of ceremonies on THursday.
Returning briefly to the vandalized freezer, she said St. Susan's has gotten some grants as the organization looks to replace and get a whole new freezer. She thanked the local businesses that helped when the freezer was first vandalized, including Jamestown Ice and Hometown Rentals.
"This whole thing was about representing the Battle of the Badges, honoring people, talking about the different departments ... it's all about community," Paterniti said. "That is what is so important, especially right now. We see people that are struggling. It's hard. We can't make people want to help themselves. But, if we keep trying to figure out ways to help them, maybe we can help one person at a time."