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| Carol and Jim Collins will be honored with the Robert Mondavi Wine & Food Award during Harvest Auction 2002. |
To honor a successful career in the hospitality industry and decades of charity work, Cal Poly Pomona will bestow upon Carol and Jim Collins (of Sizzler International Inc. fame) the Robert Mondavi Wine & Food Award during Harvest Auction 2002 on Nov. 2 from 5-10 p.m. at the Los Angeles Downtown Marriott.
Hundreds from the wine and food industry will gather to honor Carol and Jim Collins for their extraordinary contributions to the industry, with the event hosted by the honorees? namesake, Collins School of Hospitality Management.
Harvest Auction 2002 will feature a five-course dining experience prepared by acclaimed chef Mark Peel of Campanile restaurant. There will also be silent and live auctions benefiting the Collins School of Hospitality Management. Highlighted auction items include dinners prepared by celebrity and master chefs in the home; restaurant-quality culinary equipment; and unique travel packages to the Northern California wine country, New York, Washington D.C. and Hawaii.
The Robert Mondavi Wine & Food Award honors individuals whose vision and leadership have advanced the American wine and food industry. The inaugural award was presented in 1999 to Margrit and Robert Mondavi, who will be attending this year to present the award to Carol and Jim Collins. Julia Child and Alice Waters were recipients of the Mondavi Award at Harvest Auction 2000 and 2001, respectively.
While Carol Collins worked tirelessly to support educational and community activities, Jim Collins developed a single hamburger stand into one of the country?s major food-service chains, Collins Food International (now Worldwide Restaurant Concepts Inc.). They generously shared their good fortune by supporting numerous organizations, including Cal Poly Pomona, the Los Angeles Metropolitan YMCA, the Venice Boys and Girls Club and UCLA. Jim Collins?s vision and dedication have been driving forces in the advancement of the hospitality industry at both the state and national level.
Carol and Jim Collins are the Cal Poly Pomona's largest individual donors since the university?s founding through a gift of land from cereal magnate W.K. Kellogg. The Collins family?s $10 million gift to the hospitality program in April 1999 facilitated the building of a state-of-the-art learning complex. Their overwhelming generosity inspired the California State University Board of Trustees and Cal Poly Pomona to rename the university?s hospitality school in their honor.
For more information on the Harvest Auction, please call Barbara Russell at (909) 869-4471.