Chocolate Festival a Huge Success for All

A sweet deal was made possible on Tuesday, October 21st 2008 at the Squires Student Center. The Women’s Center along with the Women’s Center Club hosted the first ever Women’s Health and Wellness Chocolate Festival. The mission of the festival was to educate more than 300 students, faculty, staff and local community members on women’s health and wellness issues. However, the purpose behind the festival was two-fold: to learn about women’s health and wellness issues, as well as to savor yummy chocolates while contributing to a local organization. 

Over 57 sponsors donated to the cause and there were over 200 volunteers who helped made the festival possible. The sweetest part of the festival was that The Free Clinic of the New River Valley was chosen to be the beneficiary of the festival contributions. Anna LoMascolo, Co-Director of Programming at the Women’s Center stated “For this event we wanted to look beyond what we had previously done in the past, and we wanted to highlight a community organization that does participate in helping women’s health and wellness issues.”

A room filled with different kinds of chocolate, home baked goods, cakes and cupcakes kept everyone’s sweet tooth happy! Deliciously decorated truffles, mousse cheesecakes, white chocolates to dark chocolate pieces: each table presented a tasty treat to sample. There was also a silent auction which consisted of baskets full of artwork, chocolate, coffee, and wine.

The chocolate festival was a huge success! LoMascolo stated “I think to sell 300 plus tickets for a first time event is a success. We did not know what to expect since this was our first time holding a chocolate festival, but we were thrilled!”