By KEVIN CHIRI
Slidell news bureau
COVINGTON – To the thousands of people who attend Chef Soiree each year in Bogue Falaya Park, the biggest fundraising event in St. Tammany Parish each year is the party not to be missed.
With 85 vendors of food and beverages, five bands playing throughout the park, and prizes as terrific as a 2015 Ford Mustang, who wouldn’t love to be a part of the fun on the third Sunday of March each year?
But for the 35 staff members working at the Youth Service Bureau (YSB), and hundreds of volunteers over the years who have made Chef Soiree the fabulous party it is, there is a much bigger reason to create the biggest benefit event in St. Tammany.
YSB counts heavily on the success of Chef Soiree to fund their non-profit organization, which has a mission to help St. Tammany Parish families, and particularly, the children in those families.
“The aim of the Youth Service Bureau is all about helping at-risk youth and their families in our parish,” Interim Director Mary Slazer said, temporarily heading the group after the retirement of longtime Director Ila Dieterich.
“I feel like YSB is doing a lot to help these children and that’s why the success of Chef Soiree is so important,” she added.
Slazer is like many of the YSB staff members in that she has been with the group since first starting as a volunteer in 1998.
“We have so many people who have worked here for 10 years, 20 years, or longer,” said Dana Wolcott, another 20-year staff member who is a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) trainer. “So many of those who have volunteered have been with us for years because they see what we are doing, and realize we are truly helping families.”
Chef Soiree returns to help raise funds for the Youth Service Bureau with their annual fundraising event on Sunday, March 15 from 5 to 9 p.m. The park is packed with over 2,000 people each year due to the fantastic party atmosphere created with the music and fun. Tickets are still available to the event for $145 each, which allows you to enjoy as much of the food and beverages as you want during the four-hour party.
This year’s top sponsors for the event are Chevron as the Top Banana, Capital One Bank as the Silver Spoon sponsor, J. Edgar Monroe as the Upper Crust sponsor, Whitney Bank as the Spice of Life sponsor, and Mele Printing as the Apple of Our Eye sponsor.
The Youth Service Bureau was formed in 1981 by 22nd Judicial District Judge John Greene, and this year’s event is honoring another of the former 22nd Judicial Court judges, Clayton James, since he was the first judge to assign a child to the CASA program when that service was started in 1989.
CASA is one of the highest profile programs offered by the YSB and is a service that provides trained volunteers to assist children when they are required to appear in court, usually for domestic situations in a family, or also for criminal cases where an individual is charged with abusing a child.
Both Slazer and Wolcott began with the YSB as CASA volunteers, and like many other YSB staff members, stayed on for years to follow. Slazer became a staff member in 2000 after she started as a CASA volunteer in 1998, and was later named CASA Director in 2008. She is currently serving as Interim CEO after Dieterich retired, although she said she is not interested in becoming the permanent CEO.
Along with the CASA program, the Youth Service Bureau also has four other programs that all address at-risk youth.
The Truancy Reduction program, FINS (Families in Need of Services), Crossroads and Options are also services the Youth Service Bureau offers to families in Washington and St. Tammany parishes to help get children on the right track in school.
Truancy Reduction steps in when a child has three to five days in a row of unexcused absences.
“Our goal is simply to get the kids back in school. When we investigate a situation we have found many reasons for a child not coming to school. Sometimes it is lack of funds for uniforms, so we help take care of that, or it might be that parents don’t know some of the school policies,” Slazer said.
“Statistics show that children with early truancy problems have a predictor of problems later in their young life,” she added. “That’s why it is so important to address it early.”
FINS is the same truancy program, but is geared to sixth grade through high school age children, while Crossroads is for students who have broken the law and have those penalties to deal with. The Options program is for those students who have drug or alcohol problems.
“We address all areas of crisis for children,” Wolcott said. “And the thing that has made YSB so helpful is that we have had so many great volunteers throughout the years. These are people who not only help put together the Chef Soiree each year, but many who join us to be trained in our programs. That’s the real reason for the way we have been able to help families in St. Tammany Parish.”
For more information on the programs at the Youth Service Bureau call 985-893-2570 or go online to ysbworks.com. For Chef Soiree ticket information, go online to chefsoiree.com, or call the YSB office.