————   Hosting a Dinner Party for Elephant Nature Park   ————

Posted by Kelli Mlinarik Marko on October 16, 2007

During my first trip to the Park in 2004, I was, like many of us, fascinated by the food. When I suggested to Lek that I could prepare her dishes back home in the US as a fundraiser, she welcomed me into the kitchen! And the Elephant Nature Park Dinner Party idea was born! Inspired by the wonderful food and our love for the elephants, we began inviting friends to share in an evening of Thai food and elephant stories in exchange for a donation. Since our early events, we have grown to hosting at least twenty guests at a time and often raising $1000 in an evening.

These nights have not only been successful financially, but each one takes me back to Thailand, the elephants and the people that I love. Our guests leave touched, happy and very, very full! It's a very simple, very special way to raise money for the Park. And, most importantly, it's very Thai to invite people to gather for food and fellowship.

We now have a menu that we prepare regularly for these evenings, including: spring rolls, red curry, green curry, Masman curry, lentil masala, jungle salad, Thai cucumber tomato salad and steamed rice. I sometimes make Tom Yum Soup as well. It is easy to use fresh tropical fruit for dessert. We provide simple drinks and invite our guests to bring a beverage to share if desired.

We shop a day ahead and prepare the spring roll fillings the night before or the morning of. I invite one or two guests to arrive early to help prepare the food. There is always someone who wants to learn to roll spring rolls or make curry. For twenty to twenty-five people, I double the above recipes and triple the spring rolls. For ten to twelve people you could make them all single or make just half of the recipes and double them. You'll surely find that you like some of the other recipes better too! If you are new to the recipes, you'll want to practice everything ahead so there are no surprises.

We ask for $40 a plate, a low price for a meal of 8–10 freshly prepared Thai dishes for a good cause! Often people give more! We donate 100% of the proceeds to the Park and pay for the groceries ourselves. Because the dishes we prepare are vegetarian, it is very affordable.

While people are gathering, we have our photos out to show. Before dinner we give a short presentation including parts of the National Geographic video or other videos about the Park. During dinner we tell our personal stories of elephants and life at the Park. This can be as formal or informal as you like, depending on your style, your space, and your guests.

Overall, we have found each of these events to be completely energizing, totally exhausting and more fun than we can say. It is an honor to share our love of the elephants and the Park with our friends and acquaintances. We hope that in some small way it continues Lek's passion for educating others and building community, as well as raising needed funds for the Park!

Ultimately, the recipes became a cookbook, called A Taste of Heaven: Recipes from Elephant Nature Park. The book contains all these recipes (and more!) plus facts, stories and photos from the Park. It can be purchased here, and 100% of the proceeds go to the Park.

Or, make life easy, and just order in Thai food, share your stories, have fun, and support the Park that way! Any money you raise can be easily donated to Elephant Nature Foundation here, and will make a world of difference to Lek and the elephants at Elephant Nature Park.