"We won't be participating in Taste of Temescal going forward. In fact, I regret participating this year, and I want to explain why. While businesses like Curbside lose money on the samples they hand out to ticket holders at the event, he was always happy to participate, since the money went toward a charitable cause he believed in."
"When Taste of Temescal returned in 2025 after a hiatus, he noticed that no volunteers came by the creamery's booth to help like they had in previous years. When he used the signup form to ask for a volunteer's help this year, and emailed to complain about passes being oversold, he said no one responded."
"That's when I got a sinking feeling, realizing that I had been trusting that this was the event I thought I knew without looking closer. Instead, proceeds from the $60 tickets now go to the Telegraph Temescal District Association, the nonprofit business improvement district that runs the event—a fact of which multiple local businesses say they were not aware until recently."
Oakland's Taste of Temescal began in 2009 as a small neighborhood food crawl supporting local schools and nonprofits. Over seventeen years, it expanded to feature nearly 50 businesses and a trolley service along Telegraph Avenue. However, the event's beneficiary changed significantly—proceeds from $60 tickets now go to the Telegraph Temescal District Association, a nonprofit business improvement district running the event. Many local businesses were unaware of this shift. Curbside Creamery owner Tory Wentworth, who participated for over a decade, publicly announced his withdrawal after noticing reduced volunteer support and unresponsive event organizers, expressing regret about participating in 2025.
#community-events #nonprofit-transparency #local-business-relations #charitable-fundraising #oakland-temescal-district
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