Bring your appetite for WDSRA fundraiser

For you, $45 Sunday night means dinner and drinks in Bloomingdale prepared by some of area's best restaurants.

To the Western DuPage Special Recreation Association, that same $45 means more programs.

For the second consecutive year, the association is enlisting the help of 18 local restaurants to create the now-annual Taste of Western DuPage fundraiser.

The event, sponsored by the Carol Stream Park District and Wachovia Securities, will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Sunday at the Hilton Chicago/Indian Lakes Resort, 250 W. Schick Road.

Association spokeswoman Sherry Manschot said the event was created last fall as a 30th anniversary celebration for the association. Everyone's taste buds, however, refused to let it be a one-time deal so all the chefs were invited back.

"Everyone left last year rubbing their full bellies," she said. "There's truly not a restaurant to be missed. It's all going to be delicious."

Each restaurant will be serving sample-size portions. Some menu highlights include the seared ahi tuna form Arrowhead Golf Club; blackened tenderloin tips from Eaglewood Resort and Spa; gumbo from Heaven on Seven; an espresso bar and Domaine DuPage beer from Two Brothers Brewery.

"It really is a wonderful way to visit all 18 of these restaurants in three hours and not have to spend 18 nights doing it," Manschot said. "And every one of the chefs is working out of the goodness of their hearts to help the association."

Restaurant certificates and culinary items also will be raffled off throughout the night. All money raised will go to the association to pay for equipment, uniforms, extra programming and possibly scholarships for association families.

Music will be provided by the Wheaton North High School Jazz Combo for the first hour. The evening will conclude with a parade of chefs in recognition of their contributions.

If you go

What: Taste of Western DuPage, a fundraiser for the Western DuPage Special Recreation Association

Where: Hilton Chicago/Indian Lakes Resort Conference Center, 250 W. Schick Road, Bloomingdale

When: 5 to 8 p.m. Sunday

Cost: $45 per ticket, which includes two drinks

Details: (630) 681-0962 or www.wdsra.com