The Taste for Los Al is the principal fund-raising activity of OUR Los Al, a grass-roots organization started by local parents who wanted to support activities and improve facilities at Los Alamitos High School.
In late 2000, at the request of Los Al HS athletic director Cary Brody, Larry Strawther invited a group of involved, reasonable parents who held multiple leadership positions in local youth sports leagues. The group candidly told Brody what they felt needed to be done, and the challenges they faced via cooperation with the local high school and school district. Soon after the meeting, some of the parents formed a non-profit called OUR Los Al, to help implement these ideas.
About this same time the girls basketball boosters leadership asked Strawther what he felt would be a good fund-raising event after the big sports of football, boys basketball and baseball had already gone through the town. Strawther suggested that the boosters work with OUR Los Al to host a Taste FOR Los Al. The premise was simple. Create a large event in which all booster clubs could participate and where the opportunities to make money were better. And for restaurants, it was a single event where they could reach more people with their generosity.
The event was a success. In that first year, booster clubs sold over 800 tickets. In recent years the Taste has annually averaged ticket sales of over 3,000 and gross revenues near two hundred and fifty thousand. Since 2001 it has raised nearly $3.5 million to support Los Al High activities.
The majority of the monies raised go directly to the booster clubs via ticket sales and silent auctions/raffles/and gear sales. With the leftover revenues, OUR Los Al has given grants to improve facilities such as a gym scoreboard, tennis windscreen,s softball fencing, baseball locker rooms, and the design and construction of the school’s all-weather track.