Cuban cuisine, dressing children

"The 35th Annual Dress the Child charity dinner gala exceeded all expectations," said Dress the Child Program Chairman Doug Boberg.

The fundraising dinner was held Sept. 24 at the Las Cruces Convention Center with more than 250 people in attendance. One hundred percent of the funds raised will go to buy new clothes and shoes for impoverished children in need in the Mesilla Valley.

“Ticket sales were the most ever sold for the event, the chefs created incredible Cuban dishes, and the energy in the room was electric thanks to the music of Mountain Standard Time and the dancing of the Triple Twos Dance Team,” said Boberg, who has been the event coordinator for more than 20 years, succeeding the late Doug Raines, who created the Las Cruces Dress the Child program in 1984.

“We are so grateful to the LCCC staff for hosting the event; our sponsors, MountainView Regional Medical Center, Household Furniture, Beasley Mitchell, WestStar Bank, Farmers Insurance- Ken Miyagishima Agency and Citizens Bank of Las Cruces, for their financial support; Adams Radio Group and NMCO Studios for their promotional support; and Fetching Designs and Del Valle Design and Imaging for the graphic design and printing of flyers and dinner menus," he said.

The combined earnings of the dinner, sponsorships, silent-auction revenue and other donations will allow Dress the Child to take about 450 children shopping later this year, Boberg said. Thanks to the first ever Dress the Child golf tournament in May, an additional 119 children got new clothes and shoes to start the school year in August.

Some of finest chefs in Las Cruces and Mesilla – including LCCC Executive Chef (and the event’s host chef) Armando Murillo – created the dinner’s seven-course meal with an all Cuban-inspired menu. The food was served by students from the family and consumer sciences program at Centennial High School.

The dinner raised more than half the $70,000 Dress the Child hopes to raise for this year’s program, Boberg said. Shopping events will be held at Kohl’s Department Store in Las Cruces in November and December, with Dress the Child volunteers helping children and a parent or guardian shop for clothes and shoes. Each child will have $125 to spend; participating merchants have always added more to that total, Boberg said.

Since the Dress the Child program began, nearly 16,000 children have received new clothes and shoes – many for the first time ever – through the program, he said.

To make a donation by mail, send a check to LCRGRF Dress the Child, P.O. Box 550, Las Cruces, N.M, 88004. Or, take your donation to Julie Koenig at First New Mexico Bank, 3000 E. Lohman Ave.

For more information, contact Boberg at 575-644-9469 and drboberg@gmail.com. Visit dressthechildlc.org and Dress the Child Las Cruces on Facebook.