Guest Chefs Cook Up Lunch in Riverview for a Pink Cause

Enjoy a hearty lunch Monday, Oct. 3, while helping raise funds for a group of local women who are participating in the Susan G. Komen for the Cure 3-Day Walk.

"Cooking for a Cause" will take place at Copper Bell Café, 11228 Boyette Road, Riverview, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

On that day, there will be “celebrity” chefs from the area cooking up lunch to raise funds for the annual breast cancer walk. Celebrity chefs include Tanya Doran, executive director of the Greater Riverview Chamber of Commerce, Annabel Lennard, wife of Supervisor of Elections Earl Leonard, and Cindy Sofarelli, senior vice president for the Tampa Area YMCAs.

Lunch will feature cheese-filled ravioli with a creamy tomato sauce served with a strawberry feta salad, garlic pita bread and "the Pink Cookie" for $12.

All proceeds and gratuities will help fund the registration fees for a group of local women who have been training for months for the upcoming 60-mile walk to find a cure and raise awareness of breast cancer, Susan G. Komen's signature event.

The effort is being headed by Vonia Walther of Valrico, who decided to do the walk last December after being diagnosed with breast cancer and undergoing a double mastectomy.

Breast cancer affects one out of eight women in the United States.

"I'd been getting regular mammograms since I turned 35, so,
luckily, they found the cancer very early," Walther said. "It was all
over one breast and there was no choice but to do a mastectomy. I had to make adecision about the other breast and decided to go ahead and make it a double mastectomy. It was a hard decision to make."

She said she felt fortunate when her doctors told her she didn't need the chemotherapy that so many other breast cancer patients must endure.

"I decided to form a team and do the 3-Day in honor of those women who were so much worse off than me," she said.

Walking with her will be a group of seven friends and relatives including her 15-year-old daughter, Sydney, and Shelli Denington, who had lost her mother to breast cancer last year. Denington's husband, Darren, owns the
Copper Bell Cafe.

She also teamed up with Teri Kerker, co-captain of For Our Girls, and began training along Natures Way in Bloomingdale East this summer or the 60-mile walk to be held Oct. 28-30 in Pinellas County.

"It's not just about raising money," said Kerker. "It's about raising awareness."

In addition to training, the women have been busy raising funds for the $2,300 per person participation fee.

"It's definitely an investment in time and money," Walther said.

Contact Walther at walkforourgirls@gmail.com if you can help.

For reservations for Monday’s lunch, call 813-671-1100