MCEC's Five Chef's Dinner raises AUD$600,000 for Starlight Children’s Foundation

Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) has sponsored and hosted, 25 November, the Starlight Five Chefs Dinner that raised funds to support the Starlight Children’s Foundation (Starlight). The event raised over AUD$600,000 (US$425,000) to assist delivering in-hospital programmes at the Royal Children’s Hospital and Monash Children’s Hospital. The evening also celebrated 10 years of the partnership between MCEC and Starlight. The event featured a five-course degustation designed by Victorian chefs including: Christy Tania (Glacé), Guy Grossi (Grossi Restaurants), Benjamin Cooper (Chin Chin) and Peter Gunn (Ides). Peter Haycroft, executive chef of MCEC, said: “The dinner not only allows our own kitchen to work with some of the country’s leading culinary experts, but it also allows us to help deliver a very special menu for a very important cause, knowing that every meal we serve contributes towards putting another smile on a sick kid’s face.” Louise Baxter, CEO of Starlight, added: “Starlight Five Chefs Dinners are unique because almost everything on the night is generously donated; the venue, Chefs’ time and expertise, food, wine, entertainment, and auction items. “This enables us to ensure that every dollar raised on the night goes directly to Starlight’s programmes and brightening the lives of seriously ill children and their families at a time they need it most.”