The Sunrise Rotary Vero Beach hosted the 12th Annual Florida Craft Brew and Wingfest on Saturday, February 17 at Royal Palm Pointe in Vero Beach. Patrons purchased a tasting bracelet to sample hundreds of delicious craft brews and fill up on chicken wings prepared by local chefs and amateur competitors vying for glory in the wing competition while mingling with friends and family and listening to local bands.
The Judges for the Best Wings in Vero came from the City of Vero Beach and included Police Chief David Curry, Jason Jefferies, Jim O’Connell, Sean Collins, and Brandon Dambeck whose selection were based on the criteria featuring contestant presentation and taste based on a blind taste-test.
The Source’s Dignity Foods team, with their popular wing recipe entitled “Mo Wings,” won 1st place in the “Restaurant” category. The wings, named in honor of the former Source Assistant Executive Director Maureen Archer (now deceased), who hailed from the Caribbean, are made with a sweet Jalapeno pineapple sauce and presented in a pineapple shell.
“In addition to The Source’s win, others included DaVilas Pizza as 2nd place and Bigshots as 3rd place winners in the same category. Outback Steakhouse won the Spirit Award and All Smoked Up- Kyle Simmons won Best Independent” according to Sunrise Rotary’s Publicist, Debbie Avery.
“Our mission is to change how the community sees our members. Winning the wing competition showed the community, and our students themselves, just how talented and capable they are. This victory is a source of pride for all of us,” stated Jonathan Orozco, Development Director of The Source.
The Source offers the Dining with Dignity Program to their homeless members, which includes a 6, 12 and 18-week professional training program, ultimately helping them find suitable employment within the food industry while cooking meals for in-house members as well as, local businesses and non-profit organizations.
Orozco added, “The public can get a taste of our wings from our daily menu from one of our two Dignity Food Trucks in town. They are also available on our menu through our catering arm of The Source…Dignity Catering.”
For more information on The Source and their programs, contact Jonathan Orozco at 564-0202 or visit www.iamthesource.org.