On August 13, Warm Hearth Village (WHV) and the Warm Hearth Foundation held the eighth annual Cheeseburger in Parrot-dise event and raised over $$34,000 through sponsorships, ticket sales, and a silent auction. The ToneZ, a beach music band out of North Carolina set the tone with beach music and classic favorites while guests enjoyed a cheeseburger throwdown competition with Hethwood Market, Holiday Inn New River Valley Mall, and Red Robin. This year’s event was redesigned so that supporters could join in the fun while keeping their distance and staying safe. It featured two separate seatings and plenty of room outdoors to spread out.
Hethwood Market, participating for the 8th year, won the People’s Choice Award for the fifth time for best cheeseburger with their signature Southern Market Burger: perfectly cooked beef patty, fried pickles, pimento cheese on a soft slider bun with a sweet and spicy aioli. Hannah Close received the award on behalf of Hethwood Market and owner Scott Sink. “It was an honor to be chosen this year’s winner. It is a credit to our staff and to the community support we are fortunate to have. Working with events and groups like Warm Hearth is important to our business and we look forward to continuing the relationship in the future.” Sink said.
Local businesses, community supporters and WHV residents donated 61 packages to the silent auction that included many beautiful works by local and resident artisans. The auction alone raised more than $6,000.
Warm Hearth Village residents Mike and Martha Jobst attended the event for the first time. “We’d heard about this for years, but this was the first year we were here to attend,” she said. It was wonderful for people to be together and feel the camaraderie. The band was superb and many people enjoyed dancing. The silent auction was great. It was fun to have it online and see what you wanted ahead of time. Then we saw the items on site and competed for them. Drama to the end and all for the common purpose of supporting seniors in need,” said Marsha.
Warm Hearth and the Foundation are grateful to all who participated – from loyal sponsors to staff who volunteer to those who come and have fun! “We had a record year and thanks to our fantastic community we will be able to support the seniors on our campus who need help with housing and medical costs. It was rewarding to see everyone having such a good time together,” said Amy Webb, Associate Director of Development.
