Red, White and Brews

Red (shoes), white (check) and brews (for you)

Join Red Shoe Cville at Wild Wing Café on July 23 at 6pm for Red, White and Brews – our way of celebrating our incredible Members and volunteers while reaching out to fun new people who might like to help us in our mission to build awareness for the Ronald McDonald House of Charlottesville. This is your chance to get an answer to the question “What is Red Shoe?”, hear what we have planned for the rest of the year, meet some new people and, of course, have fun!

The evening’s activities will include a local brewery Tap Takeover, Flip Cup Competition (with prizes!), Corn Hole and presentation of a check to the Ronald McDonald House of Charlottesville for over $20,000, raised at this year’s Red Shoe Cville Downtown Chili Showdown!

Additionally, Red Shoe would like to extend a special invite and thank you to all the hardworking volunteers that made the 2015 Downtown Chili Showdown such a huge success. If you volunteered at the event please know we have a complimentary beer with your name on it!

The only way Red Shoe Cville could be better is if YOU were a part of it!  We are excited about growing our organization this year and spreading the word about the great things the Ronald McDonald House does, so please bring your friends and join us at Wild Wings on July 23rd for a fun night of meeting, greeting and, of course, beer!

Red, White and Brews

Thursday, July 23

6:00pm - 10:00pm

Wild Wing Cafe
820 W. Main St.

Meals from the Heart

At the end of a long day at the hospital, a home cooked meal, prepared with compassion and care, is a welcome sight for the families staying at the Ronald McDonald House of Charlottesville.   In an effort to lessen the burden, reduce stress and enhance the quality of life for resident families, RMH of Cville provides a hot meal evening for families to share.  Most nights these meals are prepared by community volunteers.   

On the third Monday of each Red Shoe Cville Members are lucky enough to be able to provide one of these dinners as part of the RMH of Cville "Meals from the Heart Program". Not only is it a great way to give back to our community by supporting RMH of Cville, it's a really fun time that all of our Members look forward to.  

During the summer many of the regularly scheduled groups and organizations that usually fill the RMH of Cville meals calendar are away, so right now they are seeking additional help from RSC to fill in.  If you and your friends are interested in helping out, simply contact RMH of Cville Volunteer Coordinator Mary Ann Coffey at mcoffey@rmhcharlottesville.org.  

For more information on how you can sign up to make a meal with RSC check out our Sign-Up Genius page here. And don't fret if you're new to the process, RSC Volunteer Coordinator, Carl Schwarz, is happy to walk you through everything and answer any questions you might have.  Your help is greatly appreciated and brings comfort to those who really need it!

Downtown Chili Showdown

Pull out your aprons because April 18 will be here before you know it! We are certain that this year is going to be epic (though last year's event was so awesome it will be difficult to top), so make sure to read below for all the fun details!

WHAT:
We are so fortunate to be teaming with Main Street Arena and Monticello Media again this year to present the Downtown Chili Showdown! The event promises to be bigger and better than ever with even more teams, special judged categories, opportunities to win cash & prizes (not to mention the coveted Downtown Chili Showdown Trophy!) and - new in 2015 - the Downtown Chili Showdown Brew Ha Ha blind beer battle!

WHEN:
April 18th from 11:30am - 4:00pm

WHERE:
Main Street Arena on the Downtown Mall

HOW: 

• Hometown Cooks/Non-profits - $50 entry fee includes a 10'x10' booth with table, two event t-shirts and two tasting wristbands.  
• Businesses/Restaurants $150 includes an opportunity for on-air food sampling with Monticello Media radio DJs leading up to the event, a 10x10 booth with table, two event t-shirts and two wristbands for tasting (not to mention the opportunity to support a great cause!).
• All-you-can-eat Tasting Tickets - $10 tickets include access to all the chili one could ever want, entertainment from several great bands and lots of other fun event activities.

This year there will be prizes for Popular Choice, Blind Taste Test (judged by local celebrity judges) and Best Booth!

WHO:

Anyone and everyone! The bigger this event gets the better it is!  Interested in cooking?   Download your application here!

Not up for cooking? No problem! You can help by spreading the word, volunteering, and, of course, eating chili! And, by popular demand, we will be selling our infamous Red Shoe Cville boot mugs again this year!  Remember, the more people that eat, drink and cook with us, the more we can give back to The Ronald McDonald House of Charlottesville!

QUESTIONS?
Visit the Downtown Chili Showdown website at www.downtownchilishowdown.com  or email redshoecville@gmail.com with any questions regarding cooking, volunteering, attending and anything else you may need to know.  

Meals From the Heart

When a child is receiving medical treatment for serious illness or injury, taking away the worry of "what's for dinner?" can be a wonderful relief. This is why one our favorite ways to help out at the Ronald McDonald House of Charlottesville (RMHC) is by volunteering for their "Meals from the Heart" program. 


Red Shoe Cville volunteers provide a meal for RMHC residents on the third Monday of each month. If you're interested in helping out check out our Sign Up Page here or contact our Volunteer Coordinator Carl Schwarz, at caschwarz83@gmail.com or 417-540-1791.  

If our regular dinner rotation doesn't work for you there are many other opportunities to give families - many of whom are through the hardest days of their lives - a little piece of mind the rest of the month. The goal at RMHC  is to have at least one prepared meal each day – breakfast, lunch, dinner, even brunch - so there are lots of chances to make someone's day a little better.  Some volunteers even come in just to bake cookies - and trust us, after a long day at the hospital, fresh baked cookies are a welcome sight and smell!

And don't fret if you're new to the process - the RMHC website provides everything you need to know about providing a meal. Plus, Carl is such a great guy that he'll even come to the house on your first evening to give you a brief orientation and make sure you're comfortable with everything.  Bon appetit!
 

Grand Re-Opening

Earlier this spring we were fortunate to be invited to celebrate with RMHC staff and residents for a Grand Re-Opening pizza party at the house, courtesy of our friends Papa John's of Cville.  We were all blown away by how beautiful the house renovations turned out and agreed that we couldn't wait for our next opportunity to make dinner for the residents just so we could use that amazing kitchen.  (Check out photos on our Facebook page). 

And speaking of dinner...you may have heard that our local Charlottesville Papa John's has a pretty awesome special going on right now called the "Red Shoe Special".  Order any large 3 topping or specialty pizza and Papa John's donates $1 to us!  Dinner and a donation just by placing an order?  That's our kind of meal and our kind of deal!   Thank you, Vic and entire Papa John's team, for rockin' your red shoes with us!

Dinner Time

 

Looking for a chance to participate in one of the many ways we help the House?  How about signing up for one of the monthly dinners we provide for the residents?  By giving us just a few hours of your day to prepare a meal, you can help create a sense of home and provide some comfort for those going through one of the toughest times of their lives.
 

How does this work?  

Red Shoe provides dinner for the residents of the House on the 3rd Monday of each month.  Typically we volunteer in teams of 2-4, though we encourage individuals to sign up as well, as we can match you with others for the same date (we will NOT let you end up preparing dinner on your own!).  Groups usually spend around $100 total for meal preparation. However, careful planning can make it much less and splitting the meal 4-ways helps alleviate the costs. Additionally, the House supplies drinks for the residents, so you don't need to worry about that. 

Dinner needs to be ready at or just before 6:30.  You do not need to stick around to serve - just clean up after yourself, load the dishwasher and head on out for the evening. The House recently underwent some major renovations and the new kitchen is awesome! If you like to cook this is a really fun way to get together with a few friends and spend an afternoon using an amazing professional kitchen while making a difference in the lives of others. 

With the wonderful renovations also came a few new guidelines we need to follow when preparing dinner for the House.  These guidelines can be found at http://rmhcharlottesville.org/index.php/how-you-can-help/provide-a-meal/ along with helpful hints on how much to prepare and what to expect.  The biggest difference from our meal prep in the past is that food must be prepared at the House or in a commercial kitchen. 

How do I sign up? 

Signing up to prepare a meal is as simple as clicking on the following link http://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050B49A4A62FA02-dinners  And don't fret if you're new to the process. Our Volunteer Coordinator, Carl Schwarz, can come to the house on your first evening to give you a brief orientation and make sure you're comfortable with everything. And, if you have any questions you can contact caschwarz83@gmail.com or 417-540-1791.   

Your help is so greatly appreciated and brings comfort to those who really need it. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

 

Let's Party!

As you may know, it takes a lot of effort to keep the the Ronald McDonald House of Charlottesville (RMHC) running 24-7, 365 days a year.  Despite their incredible dedication and long hours, the staff never seem to have enough time to get absolutely everything done.  To help alleviate at least a little bit of their stress, two of our Board Members (Super Carl and Mike the Great) have coordinated with the the RMHC staff to create an opportunity for our volunteers donate a little bit of their time to help get some of these things done.  We are affectionately calling these opportunities  "Saturday Work Parties".  

Here's how it works.  The House staff will be creating a running "To-Do" list for us, which we will make available to our volunteers.  On the first Saturday of the month we will get together to tackle whatever needs to be done. All you have to do is sign up for a Saturday that works for your schedule (see Sign Up Genius link below) and show up at the house to help that day.  Tasks are generally easy and should take no more than an afternoon. Recent Saturday Work Party projects included mulching the front yard and moving patio furniture and putting together lockers in the House pantry.

Saturday Work Parties start at 1:00pm so you can get your own Saturday work out of the way (or sleep off all the fun you had Friday night!).  So, if you're itching for another great way to help out the House (and trust us, every bit of help that you can offer really is valuable), sign up for one of these Saturday afternoons. The feeling you get from helping is so much greater than the small amount of time you actually commit, and, dare we say, it can actually be a really good time.  (Not to mention, you get to spend the afternoon with your extra super fun fellow Red Shoe members).  

So, what do you say - are you ready to come party with us? Next party will take place on August 2, but don't despair if you can't make than one, there's plenty of room in the months that follow! Just let us know you're coming by signing up at www.SignUpGenius.com/go/8050B49A4A62FA02-1stsaturday  

And The Winner Is...

Congrats to Earl Smith and Darryl Hammond for winning the Judge's Choice at our 2014 Downtown Chili Showdown held at the Main Street Arena on April 12!  The pair's "Belly Achin' Chili" not only scored high marks from our judges, but was a favorite of many of our visiting tasters as well!  As a reward for their hard work Earl and Darryl took home the coveted Downtown Chili Showdown trophy, a caribbean cruise vacation and a cash prize. In true champion form, Earl and Darryl generously donated their cash winnings to Red Shoe Cville - proving that they are not just chili champions, but champions for the cause, as well.  Well done on so many levels, guys, thank you!

The 2014 People's Choice Award went deservedly to Kelly Sebesta of Virginia National Bank, whose incredible booth decorations were trumped only by the amazing taste of her chili!  Additionally, if there was an award for putting the most heart in to it, Kelly would deserve the biggest trophy of all. Her efforts alone helped us raise hundreds of dollars for RMHC - her cup was literally running over!  Thank you Kelly, for helping us make this a truly special event!

And of course, we'd love to send a HUGE thank you to everyone who participated and attended this year's Downtown Chili Showdown!  With your support we were able to raise over $8000(!) for the Ronald McDonald House of Charlottesville, all while have a fabulously fun time rockin' our red shoes.

We are so grateful to the following businesses, restaurants, and amateur chefs for their participation in and support of this year's event. We could not have made this happen without you - and can't wait to have you all back next year!

Judges
Pam Garrison, Hit Kicker 99.7
Annette Daly,  The Hot Pepper Queen

Businesses/Restaurants
Brookville Restaurant
Commonwealth Restaurant and Skybar
Maya Restaurant
McGrady's Irish Pub
Monticello Media
The Whiskey Jar

Home Cooks/Businesses
Bailey Crews and Marcus Baily
Courtney and Katie Eastlack
Butch 
Kelly Sebesta
Molly Akeel
Pam Whorley
Wes Ammons
Zenas Choi

Sponsors
Main Street Arena
Monticello Media
US Navy
McDonald's
Comcast Spotlight
The Sasha Farmer Team
Virginia Tent Rental 

Downtown Chili Showdown

Pull out your aprons because our annual chili cook-off is right around the corner! We are certain that this will be our best chili cook-off ever, so make sure to read below for all the fun details!

WHAT:
We will be teaming up with Main Street Arena and Monticello Media this year to present the Downtown Chili Showdown this year! The event promises to be bigger and better than ever with a Restaurant/Business entry level, special judged categories and opportunities to win cash & prizes.

WHEN:
April 12th from 11:30am - 4:00pm

WHERE:
Main Street Arena on the Downtown Mall

HOW: 

• Hometown Cooks/Non-profits - $50 entry fee includes a 10'x10' booth with table, two event t-shirts and two tasting wristbands.  
• Businesses/Restaurants $150 includes an opportunity for on-air food sampling with Monticello Media radio DJs leading up to the event, a 10x10 booth with table, two event t-shirts and two wristbands for tasting (not to mention the opportunity to support a great cause!).
• All-you-can-eat Tasting Tickets - $10 tickets include access to all the chili one could ever want, entertainment from several great bands and lots of other fun event activities.

This year there will be prizes for Popular Choice, Blind Taste Test (judged by local celebrity judges) and Best Booth!

WHO:

Anyone and everyone! The bigger this event gets the better it is!  Interested in cooking?   Download your application here!

Not up for cooking? No problem! You can help by spreading the word and, of course, eating chili! And, by popular demand, we will be selling our infamous Red Shoe Cville boot mugs again this year!  Remember, the more people that eat, drink and cook with us, the more we can give back to The Ronald McDonald House of Charlottesville!

QUESTIONS?
Visit the Downtown Chili Showdown website at www.downtownchilishowdown.com  or email redshoecville@gmail.com with any questions regarding cooking, volunteering, attending and anything else you may need to ask.  We are SO excited about this event and cannot wait to celebrate it with all of you!