2nd annual Celebrity Wait Night

Staffers sang, aimed to raise the target amount of $26,000.

9/9/2013

BY NATALIE TRUSSO CAFARELLO
BLADE STAFF WRITER

Sister Ann Carmen Barone gives M&Ms to Renee Huebner and Jill Trosin during celebrity night for Lourdes University.

Like any professional server, Sister Ann Carmen Barone turned in her tips at the end of her shift during the 2nd annual Celebrity Wait Night.

Wearing her Lourdes University apron, Sister Ann Carmen, the vice president for mission and ministry, joined faculty, board members, and friends of the university, as waiters moonlighting for an elegant benefit dinner that raised funds Monday night for Lourdes scholarship program.

PHOTO GALLERY: Lourdes University Celebrity Wait Night

Real Seafood Company’s dining room was filled with more than 280 guests who feasted on grilled salmon, steak medallions, chicken Dijon, wine, and chocolate mousse desserts. The meals were served by 23 celebrity waiters that included Daniel Briones, business development manager of Air Force One, a local mechanical service contractor; director of Central City Ministry of Ohio Jeanie Hayward; and owner of Eaves & Ivy, Cindy Dana, who is also a board of trustee member.

The wait staff sang for their tips, aiming to raise the target amount of $26,000. In its first year, $24,000 was raised for student scholarships at Lourdes, said Kelly Dilworth, advancement event coordinator. She said they would not know the total donations until all the tips were in.

Judging from a party that Mrs. Dana served, her comment card would be filled with “excellent” service marks.

“We will definitely give her more than 18 percent,” joked Craig Joseph of Ottawa Hills who attended the benefit with his wife Michelle. In return for their support Mrs. Dana gave each guest she waited on a candle from The Paula Brown Shop.

“The energy was incredible,” Sister Ann Carmen said. “I waited on some people who I taught in high school at Cardinal Stritch High School in Oregon.”

She was amazed by the people from different segments of her life who came out to support Lourdes and its students.

“Every dollar we make goes toward our students, and in an age with costs creeping up anything we do to support them is part of our commitment to their future,” she said.

Contact Natalie Trusso Cafarello at: 419-206-0356 or ntrusso@theblade.com.