to the Cancer Center. “If I were ever to have

any type of cancer, I knew, personally, that I

would go to UAB,” she says.

One of Mrs. Hastings’s biggest influences

was Dolly O’Neal, at that time the center’s

director of development. Having donated to

some of the center’s fundraising events and

read about Mrs. O’Neal in the newspaper,

Mrs. Hastings decided to give her a call. A

breast cancer survivor herself, Mrs. O’Neal

gave Mrs. Hastings a two-hour tour of the

Cancer Center and told her how cancer

had touched her life. “I just admired her so

much,” recalls Mrs. Hastings.

Wanting to take a more active role with

the Cancer Center, Mrs. Hastings joined the

Advisory Board in 2003. “It’s easy to write

a check, but I really wanted to be a part of

something,” she says.

A NEw fLAVOR Mrs. Hastings graduated from UAB in

1986 with degrees in criminal justice and

psychology. It was after graduation, working

as a legal assistant, that she became inter-

ested in a new hobby. That hobby, she says,

“was food.”

What began as hosting small parties for

friends and Sunday night dinners for her

roommates soon led to working part-time

in restaurants and eventually forced Mrs.

Hastings to make a tough decision: She had

to choose between pursuing a career in psy-

chology or the culinary arts. “At that time it

became very appealing to leave Birmingham

and go to San Francisco to culinary school,”

she says.

While in California, she attended the

California Culinary Academy and worked

at Jeremiah Towers’s famed Stars Café and

Wolfgang Puck’s Postrio, and she honed her

baking skills at Patisserie Française. After

five years in California, Mrs. Hastings and

her husband, Chris—himself an up-and-

coming chef—moved back to Birmingham

to open the Hot and Hot Fish Club, which

has become one of the most popular and cel-

ebrated restaurants not just in Birmingham

but also across the United States.

gEttINg INVOLVED In order to spread awareness, Mrs.

Hastings and her husband have used their

restaurant as a venue for others to learn more

about the research being done at the Cancer

Center. She has hosted breakfast meet-

ings for leaders at UAB, as well as several

“Dinner with the Director” events in which

Cancer Center director Ed Partridge, M.D.,

shares research updates and other informa-

tion with current and prospective donors.

“I see how much funding and research has

helped fight different types of cancer, and I

believe it’s important to support that,” Mrs.

Hastings says.

In addition to her pursuits as an

Advisory Board member, Mrs. Hastings is a

dog lover and is committed to animal wel-

fare causes and organizations such as Hand

in Paw. She enjoys spending time with her

miniature dachshunds and three English

setters and even makes her own line of dog

biscuits: Miss Belle’s Peanut Butter Doggie

Biscuits. Mrs. Hastings and her husband

also are busy raising their two sons, Zeb, 20,

and Vincent, 19.

During her time serving on the Advisory

Board, Mrs. Hastings has been affected by

many of her fellow board members. “I’m

inspired by the people on the board who

have been touched by cancer, and how they

have come out the other side,” she says.

“Their compassion, strength and how they

don’t let it get them down—you can see the

joy in their face when they talk about life.”

giving back ADVISORY BOARD PROFILE

“If I wERE EVER tO hAVE ANy typE Of

CANCER, I kNEw, pERsONALLy, thAt I wOULD

gO tO UAB.” – idie hastings

u A b C o m P r e H e N S I V e C A N C e r C e N T e r 23

Chris and Idie Hastings