For the third year in a row, A Taste of Cy-Fair brought together dozens of local restaurants and breweries along with 2,200 attendees looking to sample their offerings at Lakeland Village Center in Bridgeland. In its third year, the event raised more than $50,000 for local nonprofit Cy-Hope on Oct. 5.

Mark McShaffry, owner of The Backyard Grill and one of the event’s coordinators, discussed the event's origins at a Sept. 17 luncheon hosted by the Cy-Fair Houston Chamber of Commerce. He said the inaugural event in 2017 was organized in seven weeks as a way to support families affected by Hurricane Harvey.

“Two years ago after Harvey, as a small group of restaurants that got together, we kept running into each other feeding first responders and shelters,” McShaffry said. “We wanted to do something to give back to the community to raise money.”

A Taste of Cy-Fair brought in $20,000 in 2017 and $40,000 in 2018, McShaffry said.

Proceeds have all been donated to Cy-Hope, which offers programs and services to local students in need, including a backpack program that sends students home with food over the weekend, counseling and speech therapy, camp experiences and Hope Centers offering homework help, life skills classes and recreation throughout the community.

To learn more about Cy-Hope, visit www.cy-hope.org.