One of the highlights of this week’s Christ Fest, the annual Christian music festival held at Christ Cathedral in Garden Grove, was the event’s fundraiser dinner, hosted by Sir Bruno Serato and his organization, Caterina’s Club, that feeds more than 3,500 hungry children throughout Orange County each day.
Caterina’s Club was founded by Serato in 2005 after his mother, the namesake of the organization, witnessed a child at a local Boys and Girls Club eating potato chips for dinner. Caterina insisted that Serato, chef and owner of the famed White House restaurant in Anaheim, cook the boy a plate of pasta. From these humble beginnings Serato’s ministry has fed more than one million children in our communities. In recognition of this work, the Most Rev. Kevin Vann presented Serato with the St. Nicholas Award for his humble and constant care of the poor and marginalized children of Orange County.
“We have been blessed to have Caterina’s Club cooking food for hungry children from our kitchens at Christ Cathedral over this past year. I have witnessed the profound works of Mercy taking place daily through their efforts. Bruno, like St. Nicholas witnessed hunger in his midst and responded by compelling the community to share their resources and care for the needs of our most cherished resource, our children,” said Bishop Vann.
As part of this year’s Christ Fest, the Anaheim White House and Caterina’s Club hosted a special dinner during the concert. The afternoon music festival featured chart-toping Christian contemporary musicians, including: Mac Powell from Third Day, Shane & Shane, Rush of Fools, Ike Ndolol, Las Siervas, Jimi Cravity, and Adam Bitter. A portion of all event proceeds went to support the work of Caterina’s club.
St. Nicholas is well known for caring for and bringing cheer to children. He is less well known for his work to feed hungry children, but these works of Mercy were central to St. Nicholas’ life. During a time of famine in St. Nicholas’ hometown of Myra, a ship came to the port loaded with wheat for the emperor in Constantinople. St. Nicholas asked for some of the wheat from the ship for people who were hungry. At first, the sailors refused, but St. Nicholas promised them that they would not get in trouble for sharing. When the ship arrived at its destination, the sailors discovered that the weight of the load had not changed, even though some wheat had been removed. The amazing thing was that there was enough wheat to supply the town for two full years with enough for planting.
“We are so grateful for Bruno’s dedication to ensuring the children in our community don’t go to bed hungry,” said Bishop Vann. “We want him to continue to be able to feed thousands of kids every day and are happy to be honoring and supporting him in this way.”
The ecumenical event brought the local and regional community together for a celebration of the Christian faith through diverse food, chart-topping musical artists and a beer garden featuring Orange County microbreweries.