Boys and Girls Clubs turn tables on fundraiser

GILFORD — The Boys and Girls Clubs of Central NH usually rely on the generosity of local restaurants for their annual Taste of New Hampshire fundraiser, which takes place in the fall and attracts up to 900 people to gather together to sample food.

That clearly wouldn’t be happening this year, for two reasons. The first is that COVID-19 precautions would advise against such a gathering. The second, said Chris Emond, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club of Central NH, had to do with the economic challenge that the pandemic posed to local restaurants.

“The last thing we wanted to do was ask restaurants for something at this time,” Emond said. “But we still wanted to do the Taste of New Hampshire.” So the fundraiser was converted to a virtual event, which did very well, and raised $45,000 through auctions and donations – more than the event has generated in any other year.

But there was another change this year, Emond said. On the suggestion of one of their major sponsors, New Hampshire Distributors, the Taste turned the tables on the restaurants. Instead of asking for their support, the event was leveraged to help both the restaurants and the Boys and Girls organization. Sponsors underwrote the sales of gift cards to restaurants, so that Boys and Girls supporters could buy them at a discount: $35 for a $50 gift card, or $20 for a $25 card.

It turned out to be a good idea.

“We raised a ridiculous amount for the restaurants,” Emond said – $100,000, in fact, in gift cards purchased at restaurants in the Concord and Laconia area. Local businesses that benefited include Water Street Cafe, T-Bones, Wine’Ing Butcher and Patrick’s Pub.

Allan Beetle, owner of Patrick’s Pub, said 2020 is going to be a difficult year for his business and he was grateful for the revenue from the gift cards.

“It’s creative, it’s special, it shows the partnership we have,” Beetle said.

Emond said the success of the gift cards means that they will likely add that to the annual event in the future.

“We are always going to have a gift card sales component of it, because, why not? But if we can get back to the old school and have our in-person event, that’s what we want to do,” Emond said.