Lisa Lowe Walls loves food.

She describes herself as a “pasta type of person” whose favorite meal is anything she doesn’t have to cook. With that combination, she also has the perfect volunteer role — coordinating the chefs for “Sauté & Sizzle: Richmond Men Are Cooking.”

The annual fundraising event for the Rho Eta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority will feature more than 40 area men putting their best recipes and cooking skills to the test for a good cause.

Proceeds from the event, slated for Saturday, Nov. 4, at the Old Dominion Building at Richmond Raceway, provide scholarships the sorority gives each year to students and to support its other community outreach efforts.

Ms. Walls has helped recruit 40 “chefs” and coordinated the signature dishes they will prepare. Guests will have the opportunity to taste each dish and vote on the winners.

Past winning dishes have been she-crab soup, London broil and chicken and waffles.

“The food is always awesome,” says Ms. Walls, a highly organized IT professional who also has her own consulting firm. She has her role down to a science. This is the 11th year the sorority has put on the event. Ms. Walls has served as chef coordinator for the last four years.

Finding chefs isn’t too difficult, she says. Many are the spouses, husbands and friends of sorority members, she says. But she also puts out the word to local fire departments, where firefighters are known to prepare their own food on their long shifts.

All are eager to show off their culinary skills, she says. “But if too many say they want to make meatballs, I may suggest another dish.”

A few of this year’s “chefs” include Dwayne Pete Ford, a life insurance agent; Jason Holland, a manager with Dominion Energy; Dr. Alonza Lawrence, pastor of Moore Street Missionary Baptist Church; the Rev. Robert K. Taylor, associate minister at Guild Field Baptist Church in Midlothian; and Ronald E. Carrington, a former Virginia State University professor and current Richmond Free Press writer.

Dressed in the sorority’s signature sauté black aprons and white chef hats, they and the other chefs will be whipping up dishes such as four-cheese seafood casserole, Cajun chicken alfredo, Momma’s chicken pot pie, Southern rice pudding, Moroccan wings, creamy Tuscan garlic tortellini soup and ribs, just to name a few.

“It’s gourmet-style eating without having to pay a lot,” Ms. Walls says. “You get a nice size sample at each station. Most people get stuffed without getting halfway around the room.”

Sauté and sizzle define the event perfectly, she says. “Our chefs are very competitive, but supportive. Each year, they look for ways to outdo the other. Their creativity and passion is unmatched.”

In addition to the food, this year’s event will feature entertainment by J Baxter & The SAUCE Band, line dancing with Kemel Patton and a silent auction and raffles for a variety of items.

“Where else can you get great food cooked and served by some of the finest men in the area, live music and meet and greet old and new friends?” Ms. Walls asks.

She notes that many of the chefs are returning with new dishes. “They have participated in the past partly because of their willingness to contribute to such a worthy cause and partly because they know that there will be many ladies in attendance,” she laughs. “As the saying goes, the best way to anyone’s heart is with food!”

The event has grown since Rho Eta Omega chapter’s first Sauté & Sizzle 10 years ago, which drew about 200 people. Last year, more than 600 attended. The event has allowed the sorority to provide more than $70,000 in scholarships to more than 100 students during the past10 years.

Meet volunteer chef coordinator and this week’s Personality, Lisa Lowe Walls:

Occupation: IT systems specialist, Dominion Energy Inc., and president/owner of Advanced Information Systems Consulting Firm.

What I do: Oversee complex applications and systems for a large utility company and manage logistics for military operations.

Community involvement: Chef coordinator for Rho Eta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority’s “Sauté and Sizzle: Richmond Men Are Cooking” benefit.

Date and place of birth: June 17 in Richmond.

Current residence: Chester.

Education: Bachelor’s and master’s in computer science, Virginia State University.

Family: Single, with two Duke University graduates, daughters Brittany Walls, 27, and Taylor Walls, 24.

Who came up with idea for “Sauté & Sizzle: Richmond Men Are Cooking”: Karen Hicks and Sada Hill, members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, attended a similar event in Philadelphia in 2005. The event was such a huge success that our chapter decided to use it as our annual fundraising event.

Event fundraising goal: $25,000. Last year, Rho Eta Omega presented $20,000 in scholarships to local high school seniors.

A perfect day for me is: Relaxing in pajamas all day and marathon watching “Scandal,” “Queen Sugar” and “Power.”

How I unwind: Watching the Game Show Network. It keeps the brain stimulated and someone always wins!

Something I love to do that most people would never imagine: Long-distance driving. I should have been a truck driver. It’s nothing for me to drive to New York, shop all day, then drive back. I have driven to California in 37 hours non-stop!

Quotes that I am most inspired by: “Never place a period where God has placed a comma,” “Whatever you are going through will pass” and “Get ready for your next journey.”

Persons who influenced me the most: My father, Figurs Lowe, who worked long hours and multiple jobs simultaneously to make sure his eight children lived a comfortable life. And my mother, Katherine Lowe, who won’t admit that I am her favorite (I know I am), but has always given us so much love and support.

Best things my parents ever taught me: Do the best you can, be the best you can and don’t settle for less than the best.

Book that influenced me the most: It was actually a magazine, “Inc. Magazine 500 Top Entreprenurial Superstars,” which inspired me to start my own business in 2005.

What I’m reading now: “The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World,” by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama.

My next goal: To learn to play a real song on the piano. (I have attempted this several times!)