COLUSA, CA (MPG) – Chocolate lovers poured into St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church on Sunday for confectionary delights.
The Chocolate Festival, now in its 26th year, is the annual fundraiser for the church to support a variety of charitable work.
“We have a list of things that we give to, but our mission is to give to those in need of food,” said Elizabeth Mohorovich, a member of the congregation and co-organizer.
For about three hours, people enjoyed picking five selections from dozens of chocolate desserts, including dark chocolate cake covered in slivered almonds, milk chocolate truffles, and cheesecake covered in chocolate and cherries.
“We had a flood of people early,” Mohorovich said. “They take out or they sit down to enjoy chocolate with coffee or tea. It is a beautiful event that is a joyful start to Christmas.”
The church reception hall was decorated for the holidays with tables laid out with white linens. A silent auction included Jan Pearson’s famous English toffee and tickets to the San Francisco ballet, as it does every year, along with other donated items.
For music, Cynthia White played on Colusa County’s only remaining pipe organ.
Denise Carter, a long-time volunteer, said while the church’s congregation is small, the joyful event brings many together to provide valuable services to the community.
All the money raised from the event benefits the local community through donations to the Ministerial Association for people with food insecurity. This year, St. Stephen’s also gave to the Friends of the Library, specifically for books for teens and young adults; Friends of the Colusa County Animal Shelter; and Karen House.
“We do this as a way to give back to our community,” Carter said. “We just do it with chocolate.”