James Turner
Staff Writer
jturner34@murraystate.edu
Have you ever wanted to test out a new restaurant but were too scared to try it?
Restaurants across Murray are participating in the first Taste of Murray fundraiser benefiting Needline on Sunday, April 29.
A total of 24 restaurants will line up inside the Yates Event Center from 11:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. offering a taste of their finest foods.
Each restaurant will have two to four of the best items from their menus for people to sample, and Food Giant will be providing beverages.
All proceeds from the event will go to Needline, a nonprofit food pantry that helps people going through financial strife to keep food on their table.
Kathy Kopperud, owner of Kopperud Realty who helped co-sponsor the event, said feedback from restaurants and community members has been phenomenal.
“We’re hoping to make this an annual event and grow it every year,” Kopperud said. “We’re very pleased that the first one is going as well as it is and plan to continue it.”
Kopperud said they’re on track to hit their goal of selling 300 tickets by the weekend.
Kopperud said they have a large variety of food from both local and chain restaurants, including Artisan Kitchen, which recently announced a new store opening in Murray.
“We’ve been very blessed with having a community that has been very generous and supported Needline for over 40 years,” Kopperud said.
Charlisa Smotherman, Calloway County executive director of the USDA Farm Service Agency, is currently serving as president of the Needline board.
Smotherman said the board was looking for new types of fundraising projects that Murray hadn’t tapped into yet. She said some of the board members attended the Taste of Graves County event, which had been going on for 5 or 6 years, and got the idea from there.
For the venue, Needline partnered with Darren Yates, owner of The Keg and Yates Events Center. Smotherman said they were able to secure donations to pay for the venue, and Darnell is offering a lot of his services like tables for the restaurants.
Smotherman said people who attend will have their tickets entered into a drawing. Prizes will include gift cards and certificates provided by the restaurants.
She said August Moon and Tom’s Grille could not participate this year, but they provided gift cards to help support the event.
Currently, there is no affiliation with Murray State, but Smotherman is looking forward to possible dealings in the future.
“We’re hoping in the future that we can partner even with Murray State to host or join us in this event,” Smotherman said.
Tickets are available at Needline, the Chamber of Commerce and Kopperud Realty.
Tickets are $15 if purchased in advance, and $20 on the day of at the Yates Event Center.