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Looking for a fun, and tasty, night out? The Timothy O’Connell Foundation will be hosting its Fourth Annual Orange Appeal on Saturday, April 2, 2016, from 7-10 p.m. This unique, private tasting will feature great food by guest chefs, special guests and sponsors at Clarke Kitchen Resource Center, 393 Fortune Blvd., in Milford. The event will benefit The Timothy O’Connell Foundation (www.timsteam.org) a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization established in 2008 in honor and loving memory of Timothy O’Connell, who courageously battled acute myeloid leukemia. The foundation’s mission includes the support of charities devoted to the needs of cancer patients who are under the age of eighteen (18) and their families.
The Orange Appeal fundraiser came about through Joanne O’Connell, Timmy’s mother, who has worked as a culinary producer for Chef Ming Tsai.
“They taped it out at Clarke’s, so Joanne knows the team,” says Kevin O’Connell, of his wife. “And she basically said, ‘what a fantastic venue for the event.’”
The Orange Appeal, named for the color that, coincidentally, was Timmy’s favorite as well as the color for leukemia awareness, is a chance to don your favorite piece of orange clothing and rub elbows with the area’s finest chefs.
”The whole idea is everything set up as kitchen vignettes, one little kitchen after another, that all blend together for a nice, comfortable gathering spot,” says Joanne.
Many of the chefs that donate their time also are chef owners of restaurants, and as such donate food to the cause as well. In addition, say the O’Connell’s, local businesses, such as Jack’s Abbey in Framingham, have donated beer and wine.
“And I do make Timmy cakes for dessert,” says Joanne, referring to her signature cakes, chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and made with love, that were her son Timmy’s favorite.
O’Connell sells Timmy cakes in early September, a time that marks both Timmy’s birthday (September 7) and the day he passed away (September 9), two days after his tenth birthday. It’s another fundraiser for The Timothy O’Connell Foundation, as is Tim’s Trot, an annual Wiffle ball tournament begun by Timmy’s brother Brendan, and a Boston Marathon team called “Tim’s Team.”
So far, The Timothy O’Connell Foundation has raised over $500,000, says the O’Connells. “We’ve given away over $400,000, so we still have some left over to this year’s causes,” says Kevin O’Connell. “Not a nickel goes to any overhead costs.”
Some of that funding goes to a Doctor Peter Gordon, who was Timmy O’Connell’s primary fellow at Children’s Hospital Boston/ Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Dr. Gordon has a lab at the University of Minnesota, and he has focused his work on understanding why the FLT3 protein mutation in acute myeloid leukemia – what Timmy had – is so difficult to treat.
“When we talked to the University about funding the project, they actually named it The Timothy O’Connell Memorial Fund for the Study of Acute Myeloid Leukemia and C-KIT and FLT3 Mutant AML Cells,” says Joanne. So far, the Timothy O’Connell Foundation has given $75,000 to this cause.
Other causes the foundation supports are aimed at supporting children and going through life threatening illnesses as well as their families. Make a Wish was particularly close to Tim’s heart, say the O’Connell’s, as was Camp Sunshine, a place with which the O’Connell’s still volunteer that supported Tim and his brothers, Dana Farber and a siblings program it ran received $7,777 from the foundation, as the number 7 was significant to Tim. The foundation also supported the Zakim Center for Integrated Therapy, an alternative healing program.
“Tim particularly liked Reiki and acupuncture, and that’s the kind of thing that loses funding a lot,” says Kevin O’Connell.
The foundation has also supported Children’s Hospital, St. Jude’s, The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Be the Match (a national marrow donor program), Flashes of Hope, Give Kids the World, Alex’s Lemonade Stand, and The Ronald McDonald House.
The Orange Appeal will be a fun way for adults to have a night out and support the cause.
“The food is top notch, and the team at Clarke is really fantastic, and this year they’re putting one of their own culinary staff,” says Kevin. “We’re very thrilled.”
Tickets to the Orange Appeal are $150, and are available at www.timsteam.org.
The foundation is also still seeking items and services for the night’s silent auction, with 100% of the proceeds going to help fight pediatric cancers and better the lives of children impacted by cancer and their families.
If you have something you’d like to donate for the silent auction, please contact Annalisa Michielli at (508) 523-0805 for delivery arrangements no later than March 25, 2016.
If you can’t join in on April 2, but you’d like to support the cause, you can make a tax-deductible contribution by mail tot:
The Timothy O’Connell
Foundation
35 Erin Way
Holliston, MA 01746
Or visit http://timsteam.org/howtodonate.html.