When she was born her parents were told to enjoy her while they could as her life expectancy was about 18 years. He climbed Cowles Mountain with his dad after a successful lung transplant in January 2013. They are sister and brother, Colleen and Daniel Dunne, and they have Cystic Fibrosis. They are thriving as young adults due to advances in research and medical treatments for children and adults with CF by companies such as Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Many people with the disease can now expect to live into their 30s, 40s and beyond. As far as they’ve come there is still much work ahead to find a cure for CF. The Dunne family were celebrated last night at the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Great Chef Throwdown held at the Corky McMillin Companies Event Center at NTC Liberty Station.
The evening began with a silent auction that included VIP tickets to see Lewis Black at Pala Casino, dinner for 6 from Stacked, a one-week stay in Orlando courtesy of Marriott Royal Palms, among other wonderful items.
Guests enjoyed and later voted on stellar cuisine from top-ranked chefs and restaurants including Slater’s 50/50, Big City Chefs, Hard Rock Hotel, Carlsbad Aquatics, Stacked, Green Acre, Jimbo’s Naturally, Gordon Biersch, and Sea Rocket. Chef Brad from Big City Chefs was awarded the Committee’s Choice award, Best Presentation went to Chef Joel Cammett from Green Acre, and Chef Jon Eyer from Hard Rock Hotel took home the night’s top prize. Local vendors such as Pure Cupcakes contributed samples of their award-winning cupcakes (winner of Food Network’s Cupcake Wars) to be enjoyed by all.
Noted local bachelor Kiptyn Locke, from The Bachelorette Season 5 and Bachelor Pad, led an auction that included a Wine Lovers Dream package from San Diego Food and Wine on the Bay and a Signature Cocktail Party from Prep Kitchen Little Italy. Guests participated in a lively game of Heads or Tails for the Booze Wagon package, and Dream Vacation from American Airlines Miles for Kids in Need and Small Luxury Hotels of the World package brought in $2500.
Music from The Jones Revival capped off the nights events.