A window of nice weather opened up just in time for the Here Comes the Sun fundraising event hosted at the Coronado Cays Yacht Club on Thursday night.
Designed to raise money for the SunCoast Market Co-op coming to Imperial Beach in early 2024, the event housed five unique spaces catered to provide guests with a taste of the things SunCoast will have to offer.
The journey to open a co-op began in 2015 to help Imperial Beach, considered a “food desert” with its disparity of healthy food options and 42 fast food, liquor and convenience stores located in a 4-mile radius, organizers said.
Shannon Ratliff, vice president of SunCoast, said Thursday that a co-op is much more exciting than any other grocery story option for the community because it is owned by the people and designed for the people.
“People are prioritized over profits,” Ratliff said. “It cares about the economy, the money stays local and it supports local farms and producers.”
Hundreds attend event
An estimated 300 people, including Coronado Mayor Richard Bailey and Councilmember John Duncan, filled the Coronado Cays Yacht Club in support of the co-op.
“This is a great event,” Duncan said. “It’s good for the Imperial Beach community, it’s good for Coronado and it’s good for the military.”
Guests were invited into an area with tables fitted for formal dining. On the side, a giant grazing table of crackers, cheese and fruit promoted community feasting.
Board members and volunteers set up blueprints of the SunCoast Market Co-op, and to get the complete interactive experience of the store’s look, guests could put on a virtual reality headset to walk through the aisles, or rather what the aisles will potentially look like.
Unique grocery story games
The outside activities included unique grocery store games, live music from local band IT’S NEVER 2L8 and 13 chefs who volunteered to serve their food.
Elisa Borelli, co-owner of Balsamico Italian Kitchen with her husband and executive chef Michele, served their restaurant’s authentic Italian cuisine.
She and her husband opened their restaurant at the end of May 2022, and they said they have been big supporters of the SunCoast Market Co-op.
“We are from Italy; we moved to the United States in 2014,” Borelli said. “We are very familiar with cooperatives, so I think it’s a great addition to Imperial Beach.”
On the lawn next to the chef tables were clever grocery store themed games organized by Bill Huck, Coronado resident, Navy veteran and the one whose fingerprint was in every detail of the Here Comes the Sun event.
A few of Huck’s family members came from Arizona to help.
Many people participated in games titled “Hole-y Cow Pie,” “Market Match,” “What’s in your Basket,” “The Price is Right” and more.
Goal: Open debt free
The night closed with an auction and raffle conducted by “Tiny House Nation” host John Weisbarth.
Guests could bid incremental prices towards the funding of appliances and equipment needed in the Silver Strand Kitchen. Bill Huck was the first to bid $20,000.
With over $1 million raised before the event and a total project cost of $3.8 million, the goal for the fundraising event was to put a $250,000 dent in the remaining funding needed to open debt-free.
