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Dinner by the Bite benefits local shelter
Inside Wilson AC & Appliances, the showroom bustled with the sights, sounds and smells of cooking as local chefs prepared their specialties for Dinner by the Bite, an annual fundraiser benefiting PAWS Shelter of Central Texas.
The company’s owners, Gay Lynn and Trey Wilson, have been sponsoring Dinner by the Bite for 20 years now. Paige Thurgood, client care specialist at Wilson AC & Appliances, said one of the Wilsons’ passions is helping animals.
“They just really love the cause and they've always loved that it's a community organization,” Thurgood said. “Therefore it's a perfect venue for PAWS to be with us.”
Jill Parsons, president of the PAWS Board of Directors, said that the event sells out every year.
“My favorite part of the event is different restaurants coming together to support us,” Parsons said. “You get a variety of different food, and every year, there's different people.”
This year, there were chefs from Redbud Cafe, Garbo’s Fresh Maine Lobster, Pig Pen BBQ and The Great British Baking Company. Attendees got to sample different dishes from each restaurant.
Diego Torres of Johnson City learned about the event on Instagram and decided to attend.
“It’s a worthy cause, and I'm kind of new to the area, so I thought I'd attend and see what I could do to contribute,” Torres said. “I love volunteering, and I love animals, so it kind of worked out.”
His favorite bites of the night were from Pig Pen - specifically the tacos and pulled pork sandwiches. Pig Pen’s salsa got high marks from another guest, Christian Scogna of Dripping Springs.
“I found out about this event from my fiancée, Courtney, with Max Living Dripping Springs,” Scogna said. “She saw it, and she always wants to support everything in the community. We’re big animal people, so we were all about it.”
He said another one of his enjoyable samples of the night was the lobster rolls from Garbos. But he had a hard time choosing a favorite bite.
“It was all great,” Scogna said.
In addition to the food, there was also live music and a silent auction.
“I think it's everyone's favorite event of the year,” Thurgood said. “There's always a wonderful team from PAWS Shelter to work with. It's easy and it's enjoyable and it definitely makes a difference in the amount of money that they can raise for the year for the shelter. We love being a part of that.”
Parsons said the funds raised go toward various activities that help the animals, such as spay and neuter programs and surgeries for injured animals.
“The whole purpose is just to bring the community together to support PAWS,” Parsons said. Parsons said the Dripping Springs location for PAWS is kind of a hidden gem, located off 165 in Dripping Springs. She said the shelter is always in need of donations and supplies.
“We need bleach badly,” Parsons said. “We would love donations of bleach and of dog food and cat food. We use the Purina One brand.”
Residents can drop off supplies or buy them online and have them delivered. Both H-E-B and Amazon will drop off at the Dripping Springs location.
“Every little bit helps,” Parsons said.
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