2024 Peoria Food + Wine Festival

October 10, 2024

The Green Space of The Pabst Building, Peoria Heights, Illinois

Photos by Nellie Photography

Proceeds of the 2024 Peoria Food + Wine Festival benefit:

Trillium Place Young Minds Center, An Affiliate of Carle Health

With this fall’s opening of Trillium Place Young Minds Center, an affiliate of Carle Health, in West Peoria, access to mental health services for children and adolescents is being forever transformed in our region.

The Young Minds Center offers a comfortable, therapeutic environment exclusively for youth and their families. The new center will house comprehensive care options – all in one location – including counseling, psychiatry, crisis services and inpatient mental health services. These specialty services represent a major advancement in innovative care for the kids in our community.

This year, Peoria Food + Wine Festival aims to shine a light on how smartphones are changing childhood. Children are facing more obstacles than ever in the mental health space, and technology has complicated that landscape. These devices have proven to be addictive and an academic distraction. Research has shown that excessive screen time and smartphone use is altering children's brains, impairing sleep, and impacting behavior. Smartphones have shown to interfere with relationships, increase the risk for anxiety and depression, and put children at risk for cyber bullying.

At this year’s Peoria Food + Wine Festival we ask patrons to consider joining the Wait Until 8th pledge (https://www.waituntil8th.org) -- a national movement specifically targeting grades K-8 to delay giving children smartphones until the end of 8th grade. The goal is to band together as parents/teachers/adults and commit to this pledge together to decrease the pressure to put these devices in children’s hands before they have the knowledge, maturity, and sense of self to use them properly.

Proceeds from the 2024 Peoria Food + Wine Festival will make a direct impact to help reshape the mental healthcare landscape and create a brighter future for our children with all donations staying right here in central Illinois at the Young Minds Center.

2023 Peoria Food + Wine Festival

October 12, 2023

The Green Space of The Pabst Building, Peoria Heights, Illinois

Photos by Nellie Photography

Because of our generous community, we raised over $200,000 for Carle Health Center for Philanthropy Trillium Place Young Minds and will make a positive change for the mental health of all children in central Illinois.

Peoria Food + Wine Festival has made an impact in Central Illinois through initiatives like OSF HealthCare Cancer Institute’s state-of-the-art cancer facility, and in 2020, we were able to help local restaurants in the height of the pandemic. Looking back since we started in 2016, it warms our hearts to share that the Peoria Food + Wine has raised over $1 million dollars!

Thank you for your generosity and for bringing your positive spirit to the event. It’s really not about the food or the wine, it’s about the people.

Eat, drink and be merry- for a cause.

2022 Peoria Food + Wine Festival

October 13, 2022

The Green Space of The Pabst Building, Peoria Heights, Illinois

Photos by Nellie Photography

The 2022 Peoria Food + Wine Festival raised over $200,000 for The Young Minds Project!

The Young Minds Project will address the growing mental health crisis for children in our region.

An effort led by Carle Health – Central Illinois, the hub of the Young Minds Project is the newly acquired Heddington Oaks property in West Peoria. This facility will be transformed into a state-of-the-art inpatient and outpatient campus serving young people with emotional and behavioral health needs. The transformation represents a move from outdated clinical spaces toward a more home-like setting, all with the goal of improving outcomes.

Beyond the physical space that the Young Minds Project seeks to provide, this effort will work to make a positive change for the mental health of all children in central Illinois. This will be accomplished through partnerships with schools, community stakeholders and families to facilitate and promote mental wellness initiatives.

Our kids deserve better. The Young Minds Project is the first major step to provide a lifeline to the thousands of kids struggling in our community.

2021 Peoria Food + Wine Festival

October 14, 2021

Green Space of The Pabst Building, Peoria Heights, Illinois

Photos by Nellie Photography

Eat, drink and be merry- for a cause.

2020 Peoria Food + Wine Festival:

Chef’s Table

September 17, 2020

Photos by Nellie Photography

The 2020 Peoria Food + Wine Festival: Chef’s Table partnered with the top chefs in the area to deliver an unforgettable evening of drinks, dining and socially-distanced fun and conversation. While the impacts of COVID-19 have been far-reaching and presented challenges to many industries, the restaurant industry has been acutely impacted. Since the inception of the Peoria Food + Wine Festival, our restaurant partners have been integral to our fundraising success, and this year, we wanted to give back to them.

The 2020 Peoria Food + Wine Festival: Chef’s Table was a one night only fundraiser that directly benefitted participating restaurants, with all ticket sales going back to each restaurant. Additionally, the restaurants also received an outpouring of generous donations from our Peoria Food + Wine Festival Sponsors and from individuals donating on our website. Once again, the Central Illinois community and our dear family and friends have shown up for a great cause- THANK YOU!

Faces of Gratitude

“You have no idea how much this helps small businesses. This was 100% unexpected but such a blessing during these hard times. It has been an extremely hard week and trying to figure out how to make hard decisions. This donation has made our month and we couldn’t thank you enough.”

- Bearded Owl

“Are you serious? People really donated this to us? We are shocked and so thankful! We have the best customers and this donation means so much!”

- Kemp208

“This donation came at such a great time! We all need help and this check will be put to great use!”

- Hearth Restaurant

“Really blown away by you! Such a generous, thoughtful thing to do. It’s very nice and fairly easy to think of others and send good thoughts, but this is so above and beyond! There isn’t a restaurant that couldn’t use a little help right now. The Peoria Food + Wine Festival is really special. Thank you!”

- Cyd’s

“Unbelievable! Thank you so much for your generosity!”

- Edge by Chef Dustin Allen

2020 RESTAURANT SPONSORS AND FEATURED WINES

Eat, drink and be merry- for a cause.

2019 Peoria Food + Wine Festival

October 10, 2019

Junction City- Peoria Heights, IL

Photos by Heather McCormick Photography

In 2019, the Peoria Food + Wine Festival raised more than $140,000 for OSF Health Care Foundation’s Comprehensive Cancer Initiative.

With over $500,000 raised for local charitable organizations in the past four years, the Peoria Food + Wine Festival has quickly become one of the area’s premiere events. Taste the creative culinary delights of the top area chefs and sip on local brews and wines- all while giving back to our community.