Area residents opened their homes — especially their kitchens — for a good cause Sunday afternoon.

Gainesville-based Teen Pregnancy Prevention sponsored “Food for Thought — A Tour of Kitchens” as its seventh annual fundraiser.

Visitors, paying $30 each, swept through homes sampling foods prepared by area establishments, enjoying background music and strolling through newly refurbished rooms.

“She came to sample the foods and I came to see the kitchens,” said Kathy Moore of Dahlonega, accompanied by her mother, Beverly Palmer.

Residents participating in the four-hour event were Doug and Debra Harkrider, Elizabeth Carswell, Ann Nixon, Lindsay Addison and R.K. and Laura Whitehead.

Preparing the foods were 2 Dog Restaurant, Sidebar 120, Re-cess Southern Gastro-Pub,  The Holbrook of Lake Lanier, My Daily Bread and Scott’s on the Square.

Proceeds from the event will “allow Teen Pregnancy Prevention to continue to provide character building and educational programs for adolescents in Hall County,” according to the event’s program.

“Our work through area schools focuses on providing accurate information to help teens make good choices, maintain healthy relationships (and) set goals while helping to build their self-esteem.”

Programs include the eight-session, abstinence-based Choosing the Best Journey curriculum offered to area ninth-graders, gender-specific efforts (“WiseGuys” and “SmartGirls”), support groups for students who are pregnant or are parents, and a puppet drama designed to help students “think and talk about the choices and values involved in sex.”