US NEWS CENTER
5/28/2022
The Methodist Hospital Foundation’s annual Mardi Gras Food Fest celebration was back in person on May 17 at Sirona’s Restaurant in Santa Anita Park with the event raising $140,000 to support advanced technology and innovative treatments for patients at Methodist Hospital.
The 27th annual celebration of this “beads and boas” fundraiser honored long-time hospital philanthropic supporter and board member Elias Tarakji, MD, for his many contributions to the hospital and our community.
“Thanks to philanthropy generated at events like Mardi Gras as well as donations from throughout the community, the hospital has been great at acquiring needed equipment to push our services forward and expand the services we provide,” Dr. Tarakji said. “Our facility’s physical structure is appealing and inviting. Although it’s a community hospital, the hospital has a great reputation for attracting patients from the entire the San Gabriel Valley and even surrounding counties.”
While Mardi Gras is usually held on Fat Tuesday, this year’s May event provided a spring setting offering daylight for most of the event and a much warmer evening.
Of course a food festival must always feature an array of culinary treats for guests to enjoy and this year did not disappoint. The 22 generous participating restaurant and dessert sponsors included Clearman’s Galley , a.k.a. “The Boat”; Gus’ World Famous Fried Chicken; Max’s Mexican Cuisine; Nano Café Sierra Madre; Saute Culinary Academy and Phoenix Bakery, to name a few. Drink sponsors featured Riboli Family of San Antonio Winery, Wingwalker Brewery and Golden Road; Perfect Hydration, Koe Kombucha Tea in addition to an array of vodka specialty drinks.
The event featured its traditional Mardi Gras parade led by the King, featuring Arcadia High School honor band members playing “When the Saints Come Marching in” and Mardi Gras committee members, who all marched to the stage for the event’s program. This included the formal announcement of the King, recognition of top Mardi Gras sponsors inSite Digestive Health Care and Keck Medicine of USC. Recognized in the program book were “Carnival” level sponsors: Arcadia Hospitalist Medical Group; Durdana Gilani, MD, Hafeez Khan, MD and Afnahn Khan; Huntington Medical Foundation; Latino Outreach at Methodist Hospital – Patty Nijjar; Optum; Mickey and Lee Segal; and Roger and the Lilah Stangeland Foundation, as well as, 22 additional sponsors.
The event co-chairs, Dino Clarizio, MD, and his wife Hope and their daughter, Jenna, were also recognized for their hard work along with the members of the 2022 Mardi Gras committee. Of course there was plenty of dancing as the 80’z All-Stars returned to the stage with their electric performance of top 40 hits.
“We share our heartfelt thanks to all our event sponsors, restaurant sponsors, and all attendees for their participation in this year’s fundraiser,” said Methodist Hospital Foundation President, Mike Driebe. “We were so glad to be back in person this year after staging Mardi Gras a year ago as a drive-thru event because of the pandemic. Our 27-year tradition of Mardi Gras continues, and we thank our community for their generous philanthropic support of Methodist Hospital once again.”
For a complete list of sponsors and participating restaurant sponsors, visit www.mardigrasfoodfest.org.
