The Taste of 2009 hosted more than 500 diners at Nativity Catholic Church in Brandon, Fla. The annual fundraiser features donated menu items from area eateries. Proceeds are for the Nativity Outreach Food Bank and Food Pantry, where volunteers report the need for aid has grown dramatically with today's economic climate.

The ninth annual taste marked the first time Mary Wallace and Pat LeJeune were not in attendance. Both women died in January 2009, just three days apart. Wallace, who handled administrative duties for the food pantry, more than two decades ago started with Sister Constantine the Nativity Catholic Church Friendship Club, which started the food charity.

LeJeune, for close to a decade, directed the church's outreach, which includes the food bank, a warehouse from which some 50 to 60 churches draw food for their own feeding initiatives in the Greater Brandon area.

"I do want to be quoted as saying all the volunteers just rose to the occasion because it's the first year wihtout Pat and Mary," said the Rev. Arthur J. Proulx, pastor of Nativity Catholic Church. "They [the volunteers] just picked up the ball and ran with it."

The Taste of 2009, held for a ninth year at Nativity Catholic Church on Sept. 26, featured menu items from the following area restaurants:American Pie Pizza Co., Arby's, Beef 'O' Brady's, Big Belly Burgers, Brocato's Sandwich Shop, Chick-fil-A Valrico, Clubhouse Sports Bar, GFS Marketplace, Holy Cow Kettle Korn, Hungry Howie's Pizza, Mango's at Embassy Suites, Mimi's Cafe, O'Brien's Irish Pub, Planet Smoothie, Publix, Rolling Pin Kitchen Emporium, Ruby Tuesday, Stingray's Grill, Yuengling Brewery, and Zaxby's.

The Taste of 2009 hosted more than 500 diners at Nativity Catholic Church in Brandon, Fla. The annual fundraiser features donated menu items from area eateries. Proceeds are for the Nativity Outreach Food Bank and Food Pantry, where volunteers report the need for aid has grown dramatically with today's economic climate.

The ninth annual taste marked the first time Mary Wallace and Pat LeJeune were not in attendance. Both women died in January 2009, just three days apart. Wallace, who handled administrative duties for the food pantry, more than two decades ago started with Sister Constantine the Nativity Catholic Church Friendship Club, which started the food charity.

LeJeune, for close to a decade, directed the church's outreach, which includes the food bank, a warehouse from which some 50 to 60 churches draw food for their own feeding initiatives in the Greater Brandon area.

"I do want to be quoted as saying all the volunteers just rose to the occasion because it's the first year wihtout Pat and Mary," said the Rev. Arthur J. Proulx, pastor of Nativity Catholic Church. "They [the volunteers] just picked up the ball and ran with it."

The Taste of 2009, held for a ninth year at Nativity Catholic Church on Sept. 26, featured menu items from the following area restaurants:American Pie Pizza Co., Arby's, Beef 'O' Brady's, Big Belly Burgers, Brocato's Sandwich Shop, Chick-fil-A Valrico, Clubhouse Sports Bar, GFS Marketplace, Holy Cow Kettle Korn, Hungry Howie's Pizza, Mango's at Embassy Suites, Mimi's Cafe, O'Brien's Irish Pub, Planet Smoothie, Publix, Rolling Pin Kitchen Emporium, Ruby Tuesday, Stingray's Grill, Yuengling Brewery, and Zaxby's.