The Garden Fest Foundation has been working hard the last 6 years to build community and raise money for charitable organizations making change in the Bay Area and beyond. To date, the Foundation has raised over $32,000 and has impacted over 3,500 people through its work and fundraising. Some of the organizations that have received support through the Garden Fest Foundation are Mercy Brown Bag, Lavamae, and Heifer International. The founders are now looking for the next team of students to take the organization forward.
The Garden Fest and its annual dinner event was started in 2016 by Toby Jacob and Anabel Loucks as a bat-mitzvah project. Once that event was over, both of them decided that doing these events was a passion that they wanted to pursue and made the organization an official Foundation and a 501c3. Every year these events have become sell-out affairs, bringing the community together for a gourmet multi-course dinner, local wines, hand-crafted cocktails and local entertainment all served by PMS and PHS students.
The pandemic did not stop Garden Fest from happening either. In May of 2020, Toby and Anabel partnered with Oliveto restaurant, prime wine and cocktail purveyors, and Market Hall to deliver a gourmet 4-course dinner to over 150 diners in Piedmont and the surrounding area. In that year alone, they raised over $11,000 for Mercy Brown Bag.
Toby and Anabel are now planning their next chapters as they finish their senior year at Piedmont High School. They are looking for another Piedmont student or team of students who might be interested in carrying forward the Garden Fest Foundation.
If you are interested, please reach out to Toby Jacob with any questions at tobyjacob@gmail.com.