Amarillo—Julian Reese, former head coach of the Amarillo Venom, will be the keynote speaker for the 25th annual Salt and Pepper Luncheon to benefit the InterFaith Hunger Project at Catholic Charities of the Texas Panhandle. The luncheon will take place Thursday, March 7 at 11:30am in the Grand Plaza at the Amarillo Civic Center, 401 South Buchanan.
Tickets are $100 each for the luncheon and individual table sponsorships range from $500 to $5,000, according to Jeff Gulde, CCTXP executive director. Andy Justus, news anchor at KAMR-TV, Amarillo, will serve as master of ceremonies and Chef Bud Anderson will cater the meal.
“Many years ago, a Catholic Charities Hunger Project volunteer driver was delivering food to a homebound elderly widow and discovered she was having salt and pepper soup for lunch,” said Gulde. “With empty cupboards and an empty refrigerator, this resourceful woman boiled water, added salt and pepper and made salt and pepper soup. This harsh reality served as a call to action to work harder in increasing our capacity to serve, and the first Salt and Pepper luncheon was planned.”
Julian Reese is the seventh of 13 children born to Charles Reese Sr. and his wife Janet. All 13 children in the family received academic scholarships to college. He and his wife Erica are the parents of four children.
Reese was the quarterback of the 2004 Amarillo Dusters indoor football team which claimed the Intense Football League (IFL) title. In 2011, he took over as head coach of the renamed Amarillo Venom indoor team, where he compiled a record of 69-39 in 11 seasons, which included titles in 2012 and 2013.
For additional information on the Salt and Pepper Luncheon, to purchase tickets or to inquire about sponsorship opportunities, please contact Gulde at 806-376-4571 or go to the agency’s website, cctxp.org.