Chefs for UNICEF charity gala anticipates big comeback in April

Sidelined last year due to the pandemic, the annual Water for Life Gala supports UNICEF’s goal to provide access to safe water for children all around the globe

CITYnews halifax \ Steve Gow
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The organizers behind the annual Chefs for UNICEF Water for Life Gala have a pair of reasons to celebrate the upcoming event at the Halifax Convention Centre.

Not only will this year mark the 30^th anniversary of the important fundraiser, but it will also be the long-awaited return of the gala in-person following two years of pandemic restrictions.

“We kind of played around with a few ideas (last year) and wondered should we do virtual, but at that point we felt everybody was virtualled-out — there had been a lot of virtual things,” says Jeannine Bakeeff, the gala’s chair, noting organizers opted to launch a donation campaign instead. “So after two long, challenging years and a hiatus from our event, we’re back again!”

Taking place on April 20, the Chefs for UNICEF Water for Life Gala is a popular event assembling some of Nova Scotia’s most esteemed culinary talent to prepare an evening of exceptional international cuisine.

“The chefs pick whatever gourmet delights of whatever countries they want to focus on,” says Bakeeff, noting guests are able to sample from various tasting stations set up in the Halifax Convention Centre. “The focus when you’re there is on the food.”

Selected by the event’s lead chef Sean Doucet, who is senior director of operations at SilverBirch Hotels and Resorts, the gala will feature a wide range of talent including everyone from Harbour City Bar & Grill’s executive chef Andy Camm to Jamie MacAulay, who runs the kitchen at Drift — the restaurant in Halifax’s recently-opened Muir Hotel.

“It’s a good cross section,” adds Bakeeff. “Definitely a lot of Halifax-based (chefs), but even drawing from Cape Breton, Fox Harbour and Lunenburg.”

The gala itself aims to support UNICEF’s work to facilitate access to safe and clean water, as well as sanitation systems, for children in low-income countries around the globe. Organizers hope to raise more than $300,000 for the cause this year.

“It’s a huge issue,” says Bakeeff, who has been involved with the Water for Life Gala for more than 20 years. “A third of people globally don’t have access to safe drinking water, (so) the stats are quite shocking when you actually think of it, because it is so easy for us to pour a glass of water or flush a toilet.”

According to the UNICEF website, more than two billion people still lack access to safe drinking water and more than half of the world’s population does not have access to safe sanitation.

In past years, the Chefs for UNICEF Water for Life Gala has supported water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programs primarily aimed at Ugandan schools.

“This year, we’ve kind of shifted it to more general resources and where it’s kind of needed most because of COVID,” says Bakeeff. “It has really reversed years and years of progress on children’s rights, and a lot of it has to do with water. When you think about COVID, one of our biggest tools is washing our hands, so if you don’t have clean water, how are you going to do that?”

In addition to raising funds by tempting guests with a tantalizing array of international cuisine, the event will launch an online auction on April 6 (closing the night of the gala) showcasing more than 100 high-quality items.

“That’s actually a really big part and it’s grown over the years,” says Bakeeff of the auction. “We basically have anything from a $250 mark upwards to several thousand dollars, so Cabot Links is in for a getaway package, a trip to New York City — that kind of thing.”

For more information on the Chefs for UNICEF Water for Life Gala, visit the website.