On Saturday, Jan. 27, La Salle’s volunteer-run Steak and Seafood event returned for its 27th year. With the success of the past 26 events — including $80,000 being raised from last year — the Steak and Seafood Dinner has played an integral role in the funding of La Salle’s sports teams.

The Steak and Seafood event first began years prior when a few former coaches, administrators, and longtime teachers came to the conclusion that the sports teams needed more funding.

The fundraiser was first led by a community member who had a connection to an Alaskan fisherman. Together, those community members came up with the idea to host a fundraiser centered around an all-you-can-eat steak and seafood buffet along with a microbrew tasting. “That’s when the microbrew kind of craze started,” Athletic Director Chris George said. “So it’s a great opportunity for local microbreweries to advertise and get people in the community to taste their products that [are] new or seasonal.” 

Though vendors for the food have varied slightly throughout the years, La Salle’s connections and relationships with the vendors remain the same. Currently, an alumni parent has been responsible for the seafood sourced from Pacific Seafood, where La Salle also receives the other protein and steak at a discount.

Preparations began back in October and since then, hundreds of hours of work have been put in behind the scenes. Mr. George believes that much of the preparation shares similar aspects to the ways in which the sports teams at La Salle operate. “It basically mirrors what happens on our teams for sports,” Mr. George said. “[There’s] a lot of different roles, a lot of different responsibilities, people helping each other out … it’s unique in that aspect.”

The event hosts roughly 600 or more attendees and the dishes served are strictly made by La Salle community members and volunteers, which results in nothing being catered. “It’s a highly coordinated event with a lot of moving parts that have been fine tuned over the years,” Mr. George said. 

At the core of this event is the sports teams and others in the La Salle community that volunteer their time to help out. The teams were first tasked to help out at the event years ago, and their tasks have become a tradition, as each team’s role remains the same each year. By doing this, the goal is that the knowledge of the task can be passed down within the teams.

The sports teams are involved in every aspect of the event, from setting up the school, preparing the food, hosting the event, and then cleaning up afterward. All of these responsibilities create a huge need for volunteers to make the event happen. 

When all is said and done and the money is raised, the funds directly support the teams. The difference in what teams earn depends on the factors such as the complexity of the job, number of people it takes, and the amount of time spent working at the event, but each team receives roughly the same amount of revenue from this event. How the funds are spent comes down to what the coaches and administration believe is needed. “I work with the coaches on determining what their needs are, and so we determine if they want to make any purchases and we focus on things that are going to impact the most kids in the program,” Mr. George said.

The event itself is run by the Booster Club, which is entirely volunteer run. This creates an environment that is extremely welcoming and cheerful. Everyone who is doing a task is doing it for the sake of the community and not forced in any sense.

The event also benefits from the environment built off connections due to the large number of alumni, parents, and other community members who attend. By connecting these different community members they often discover that “the world’s pretty small,” Mr. George said. 

The coaches are also the ones who pour the beverages for the tasting, allowing the attendees to see the face behind the program they’re supporting. This connection is important to building the community that fuels all La Salle events.

“And it’s by intention,” Mr. George said. “If we left it up to chance, and our coaches were just mingling, I don’t necessarily know if it would have the same effect on people in terms of feeling like they’re connected to our programs.” 

He hopes to continue this event next year and for years to come, and with approximately 70% of La Salle students involved in athletics and activities, there is always a need for the event.