Clearwater YMCA To Host Annual Chili Cook-off

CLEARWATER, FL – Variety is the spice of life, and the Clearwater YMCA is hoping the community will come out and try a variety of chili for a good cause.

The YMCA will host its third annual Spice It Up for Autism Chili Cook-off on Saturday, Dec. 3 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Y, located at 1005 S. Highland Ave. Proceeds from the event will go towards sending Pinellas County children to Camp COAST (Children on the Autism Spectrum Together).

YMCA Camp COAST is specially designed for children with developmental disabilities. It provides social therapy, swimming, horseback riding, field trips and respite care for their families.

Chili cook-off participants will be divided into professional, amateur, youth and senior categories. Award categories for the chili include: Where Is The Fire Extinguisher?, Most Unique Chili, My Child Ate It and Liked It, YMCA Staff Best Chili and Best Vegetarian Chili.

For the first time in its three-year history, Spice It Up will also have a salsa-making contest.

The judges will be local experts on autism and celebrities like Bay News 9’s Veronica Cintron and Miss Florida International Rachel Barcellona. Also, Congressman David Jolly will serve as an honorary judge along with Tampa Bay Times Food Editor Joyce LaFray.

LaFray is one of the country’s foremost food experts and has been the food editor of Creative Loafing and contributor to Bon Appetit and Where magazines.

Tickets to Spice It Up for Autism are $5 per person and $20 per family of six. There will also be drawings for prizes such as MOSI and Legoland tickets.

For more information, visit http://ymcasuncoast.org/spiceitup, call the Clearwater YMCA at (727) 461-9622 or e-mail Vickie Shire at vshire@suncoastymca.org.

Image via Nathan Borror, Flickr, used under Creative Commons