Festa Parties and Friends Donate Cereal to Lakeview Pantry to Celebrate St. Patrick's Day

CHICAGO, IL, March 16, 2013 (Press-News.org) Festa Parties, a Chicago-based event planning company known for its festive pub crawl events including TBOX, The Twelve Bars of Xmas in Wrigleyville, held another successful "BYOC" Bring Your Own Cereal Charity Donation Party, which took place on March 7th, 2013 benefiting the Lakeview Pantry. Festa Parties has been planning and organizing great Chicago party events since its first TBOX back in 1996.

One of Chicago's Premier Irish Pubs, The Irish Oak, hosted the event, offering a festive Irish setting for this party where the Lucky Charms went a-flying! Attendees donned a little St. Patrick's day garb, and brought assorted boxes of cereal to be donated to Lakeview Pantry. The organization has been providing food to impoverished people since 1970, as well as helping those in need by providing assistance in matters of unemployment and housing.

Christopher Festa, Owner and Founder of Festa Parties, dubbed this month's BYOC "Charm Madness", a contest where 32 contestants competed in a head-to-head single elimination tournament to separate, and then eat, Lucky Charms as fast as possible. The early rounds featured separating rainbows, hearts, moons, and stars, and in the final four, competitors had a cereal chugging contest. The final round consisted of a "pie-eating" style match, and the final two competitors ate the cereal from the table without the use of their hands.

The Irish Oak, in association with Big Onion Tavern Group, donated a $50 Gift Certificate to go to the contest winner. Big Onion and Festa Parties have worked together the last year on numerous events, and their Chicago Properties include Brunch, Diag Bar & Grill, 404 Wine Bar Co, The Irish Oak, Derby, and Fatpour Tapworks. The Irish Oak in Wrigley is actually a big part of TBOX history, having been on the schedule every year since 1999. Ben Carroccio, General Manager of The Irish Oak, stated, "Festa Parties events are always a fun and enjoyable event for the staff, participants, and Clark Street. We've enjoyed working with Festa Parties over the last couple years and look forward to every event they have with The Irish Oak. The other night's Cereal Donation event was a prime example, it was a great event, great crowd, and made it feel good to do the event for such a worthy cause. We had an AMAZING amount of donations for this event and The Irish Oak is thrilled we could be a part of it!"
All contestants and guests enjoyed gift beads, t-shirts, hoodies, sunglasses, and other prizes provided by Festa Parties. Miss Caity Isham of Wicker Park came out on top of "Charm Madness", taking home the grand prize gift certificate. Isham commented, "Chris Festa always finds creative ways to make everyone in the community feel special. He also is really great at bringing people together to help wonderful causes. Through these events, I am able to see how he inspires people to give what they are able to in different ways." Attendee Anita Chlipala also agreed with Isham's sentiments, "Chris Festa is the most generous person I have ever met. He cares not only about his friends, but also his community. He goes above and beyond to help as many people as he can."

At the conclusion of the BYOC, 163 boxes of cereal were delivered and donated, totaling 539 for the year donated by Festa Parties and attendees of the BYOC Parties. These boxes of cereal will be distributed to those members of the community who need them the most. Lakeview Pantry estimates that it will distribute roughly two million pounds of donated food to community members throughout 2013 with the continued support of Festa Parties. "Once again, we are thrilled to see our fans get so excited about helping the community. The idea of combining our love for cereal with doing good for others, AND throwing in the Lucky Charms angle for St. Patrick's Season, it was just a great time for everyone!"

Festa Parties is looking forward to continuing producing the lively and popular events like TBOX, BeadQuest, and Cover Your Bases and contribute extensively to the local charities and community organizations. Festa's upcoming events include its next pub crawl, Cover Your Bases 2013, the 5th Annual Baseball-Themed event on April 27th, 2013 in Wrigleyville.

Festa Parties is a Chicago-based company founded by Christopher Festa that produces creative and popular nightlife and cultural events including TBOX, BeadQuest, and Cover Your Bases, which include popular Chicago establishments in neighborhoods such as Lakeview and Wicker Park. These include John Barleycorn, Moe's Cantina, The Irish Oak, Red Ivy, Stretch, Fatpour, Rockwood Place, Fifty/50, Boundary, Sluggers, DS Tequila, Casey Moran's, Full Shilling, Trace, Murphy's Bleachers, Rebel, and many others. Festa Parties also contributes extensively to local charities and community organizations including Chicago Dance Marathon, School Street Playlot, Mercy Home for Boys and Girls, and Lakeview Pantry.

For further information, please visit: http://www.festaparties.com