Though Cooperative Christian Ministries and Clinic has experienced shifts in service since implementation of the Affordable Care Act, those changes won't affect the array of tempting confections to be served during the 11th annual Chocolate Festival.
The event's flyer says the public can, "Eat chocolate for charity." And from 1-3 p.m. Sunday in Embassy Suites Hot Springs -- Hotel & Spa, 400 Convention Blvd., ticket holders will have ample opportunity to do just that.
This year, more than a dozen restaurants, sweet shops and businesses will create scrumptious treats and eye-catching displays -- each hoping to score points from the panel of judges.
But points and chocolate aren't the top priority of the day. What's most important is raising funds for the clinic, formerly known as Charitable Christian Medical Clinic, which continues to assist the un- and under-insured in the Hot Springs area.
Lynn Blankenship, CCMC executive director, said raising funds has been more difficult since the ACA took effect. She said the common public misconception is there's no longer any need for a charitable clinic, because all people now have insurance coverage.
"But that's not true. There are still people who don't qualify," she said in a phone interview. And there are also those who don't obtain their news in a standard way and aren't yet aware of ACA coverage.
To help tackle those issues, the clinic has become an insurance enrollment site for its patients, part of the recently expanded Ministries Division. Blankenship said once people have had help enrolling, it takes about six months before they can get in to to see a physician. CCMC continues to provide medical care in the meantime.
Another aspect of expanded ministries involves education. The director said, "When we did have this change in where and how we were spending our time after the ACA, we made the decision that we wanted to still be involved in the individuals' lives."
She said the common denominator of those they serve is poverty, so clinic staff began researching and found a group that provides curriculum and teaching tools designed to provide a way out of poverty by providing life skills.
"We actually just started our first class of 16 students last week. It's a 16-week course, three hours a day, one day a week," she said.
After participants graduate, they'll be paired with mentors to hopefully extend their circle of influences in life. Another piece they're hoping to tie to this is partnering with area businesses that will give the graduates a hiring preference, because they know the applicants will have employable skills.
Blankenship said, "We hope that by this time next year, we're going to have five classes going at any given time. But we need to work through this first one and run the traps on it."
Of course, these expanded services require funding, which is where the annual festival comes in.
The clinic's director said she had no idea 11 years ago what the event would become, growing annually in community participation.
She said, "To tell you the truth, it wasn't until last year we discovered that the actual history of the event started with the Embassy Suites. When they came to town, they're charged corporately with partnering and supporting a nonprofit in the community that they're set up in."
She said CCMC and Embassy Suites, managed locally by Kurt Schatzl, work on the event jointly. "They provide as much staff as we do. As a matter of fact, the day of the event, they provide more staff. It's just amazing what they do."
In addition to tasting chocolate aplenty, attendees will be able to bid on silent auction items and enjoy live entertainment by the Fun City Barbershop Quartet, who will meander through the crowd while offering a capella tunes.
Mike Davidson, fifth-year festival chairman, said he's what people call a "sweet-aholic," so he always looks forward to sampling the different offerings.
To whet the public's appetite, a few vendors told The Sentinel-Record what their creations will be this year.
Chef Justin Guthrie and the staff at Embassy Suites are baking chocolate stout cupcakes, with Chef Darryl Earnest and his personnel at The Austin Convention Hotel & Spa putting together Oreo truffles. The Arlington Resort Hotel & Spa will plate two rich delicacies -- one a hazelnut truffle and the the other a raspberry chocolate bar, conceived by the hotel's Chef Jean Claude Bridoux.
Local on 01/28/2015