About us

Taste 4 is the brainchild of Larry Strawther who along with Diana Hill, has helped raise nearly three million dollars for activities in Orange County California communities.

Taste 4 first came about when Strawther was asked by smaller booster clubs at Los Alamitos High School for ways to raise funds after the big sports had finished with their fund-raising. Strawther suggested the smaller clubs combine to put on a food and wine tasting event. After setting up a non-profit to handle event paperwork and logistics, he recruited Hill to work with the school booster clubs, while he focused on the "production." That very first "Taste," organized in less than two months back in in late summer 2001, raised over $20,000 and created a buzz about "the community block party." Each year the event has grown by at least 20% and is now the largest single fundraiser for almost every Los Al HS activity. In some cases, it is now the only fund-raising activity. The 2008 Taste for Los Al raised over $270,000.

Strawther and Hill know first-hand the fund-raising challenges facing organizations and parents. Between them, they have been heavily involved with youth baseball, youth soccer, youth basketball, gymnastics, club soccer, club volleyball, travel baseball, and high school football, soccer, basketball, volleyball, track and baseball, not to mention school and district PTAs, district-wide education foundation, Chamber of Commerce events, etc.

Diana Hill

Diana is the President and owner of a seminar and marketing company and has over 20 years of experience in the field of coordinating seminars. She applied that practical experience to fundraising for her children's activities, and in the process created events that have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for her community. Her organizational skills (thorough attention to detail) and equaly important people skills (she is is patient and helpful) have been a major part of why each and every Taste 4 event has been a success. Besides being an officer and President of high school booster clubs, Diana is also the President of the Los Alamitos Unified School District Educational Foundation.

"It's easy for us to help raise money for organizations who are passionate about what they do."

Larry Strawther

For many years, Larry was a writer and executive producer of many network television shows (such as "Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Night Court and most recently MXC: Most Extreme Elimination Challenge -- ask your kids. they'll probably know.) Before that he was a newspaper reporter in the San Francisco Bay Area as well as a musician whose group opened for such groups as The Doobie Brothers, Boz Scaggs, Ike & Tina Turner, The Pointer Sisters, Huey Lewis, Chuck Berry and many others .

After moving to Rossmoor in Orange County, Larry quickly tired of the LA freeway grind and started a community sports newspaper. This put him in frequent contact with most local youth sports and activities, high school booster clubs and just as importantly, local merchants. All this made him aware of group-specific fund-raising challenges and the situations which best allow a local business to help their community nwhile ,also helping thir business. He put these all to good use when creating the first Taste for Los Al which has become the single largest fund-raiser in the Los Alamitos, Rosmoor and Seal Beach communities. He is the President of OUR Los Al, the non-profit which stages the event and which has contributed money to the improvement of the improvement to the Los Alamitos High School basketball, softball, track, soccer and lacrosse facilities.

"It's not always knowing what to do. It's equally important to know what not to do."