BARRINGTON - Spring rolls and chicken with lemon grass will be used to build a bridge in a remote Vietnamese village this year. The Barrington High School Interact Club and teacher's assistant Mai Donohue will hold a Vietnamese dinner fund-raiser on Wednesday, March 30, in the school cafeteria at 6:30 p.m. Proceeds from the event will be sent to Ms. Donohue's native village in Vietnam to help build a permanent bridge.

The dinner will be cooked by Ms. Donohue and will feature spring rolls, chicken with lemon grass, a salad with rice noodles and chicken, and stir-fry noodles with chicken and vegetables. All the recipes are authentic Vietnamese. Tickets, which are $16 and include a dessert, can be purchased at the high school office.

The team of Ms. Donohue and the Interact Club has been helping people for more than a year.

Last year, the Interact Club, which is required to create an international project annually, worked with Ms. Donohue to raise money for an orphanage in Vietnam. They held a dinner, sold more than 200 tickets, and raised around $3,000, which went to purchase computers and hearing aid equipment for the children in the orphanage.

This year, Ms. Donohue and the club chose to help fund the bridge project. Ms. Donohue said the wooden bridges in her native town are washed out with heavy rains every year, but a stone bridge would remain a permanent fixture. She said the bridge will cost around $5,000, and the dinner is not likely to raise enough to foot the entire bill. Organizers are hoping to augment the proceeds with a raffle and private donations.

Joe Lombardi, advisor to the Interact Club, has been very happy with the relationship his club and Ms. Donohue have created.

"This year, I approached her. I said we needed to come together to do another project. Mai mentioned they have a small bridge that gets washed out every year. Wouldn't it be nice to raise funds for a permanent bridge?"

Mr. Lombardi said the key to the event is Ms. Donohue's cooking.

"Her food is unbelievable. Everything tastes great. This is a great deal."

The Interact Club, which is part of the Rotary international club, has approximately 50 local high school members. Every year the club is required to come up with a local project and an international project. The club has held food drives, filled Thanksgiving baskets and collected toys for Christmas. Interact Club members will help serve people attending the Vietnamese dinner.

"I really want to thank the Interact Club," Ms. Donohue said. "They gave me this opportunity. This is possible because of them."

Cooking with Mai

For the last few weeks Ms. Donohue has been preparing for the benefit dinner.

She has been making the spring rolls in advance and will cook them just prior to serving them. She's also been busy recruiting kitchen help — her family has been busy assembling the spring rolls and will grill hundreds of chicken breasts leading up to the event.

Ms. Donohue is also currently working on a cookbook called "Mai Goodness Vietnamese Delights."

BY JOSH BICKFORD

jbickford@eastbaynewspapers.com