The 8th Annual For the Love of Chocolate gala drew in more than 800 attendees and raised more than $100,000 in scholarship funds.
More than 800 people attended the 8th Annual For the Love of Chocolate gala on Feb. 23 at the Union League Club in Chicago. This year’s glitzy event raised $106,900, which will be awarded as scholarships to future students of The French Pastry School of Chicago's full-time L’Art de la Pâtisserie and L'Art du Gâteau programs.
The event—themed Old Hollywood Glamor—featured the Cocoa Couture Fashion Show in which 26 dresses made from ingredients and kitchenware were modeled down a makeshift runway. Each design featured Jelly Belly® products, and designers accented their designs with serving tongs, strainer baskets, re-purposed packaging and chocolate.
Some attendees began their evening with a five-course dinner prepared by a group of top Chicago chefs, but all ended the night with decadent desserts prepared by French Pastry School alumni and friends as well as live salsa music.
"Tonight, we had an event filled with alumni from The French Pastry School's first full program in 2000 to last term's graduating class," Franco Pacini, director of For the Love of Chocolate Foundation, said in a statement. "They were here to support future students to receive the training that they benefited from and strongly believe in; this is exactly the kind of community that makes our foundation so special. Every single participant in the event made such marvelous contributions and it is important to us that every single dollar that they helped raise will go to funding scholarships."
Student volunteers applaud as attendees make their way up the stairs.
