Earlier this month, Chef Jodi attended the Chefs Cork and Craft Gala, an annual event benefiting the San Diego Food Bank. This was the second year she attended this fabulous event, which featured 30 local chefs who all donated their time, food and talent to raise funds for the Bank’s hunger-relief programs.
During the evening, each chef was assigned to a table of 10 guests, preparing a multi-course dinner with drink pairings as that table’s personal chef. One of the featured chefs was Chris Gardner of Volunteers of America, who has also worked several events at Lajollacooks4u.
What made the evening so special was that all proceeds went to the Bank’s many initiatives. One in particular, the Food 4 Kids Backpack Program, provides weekend backpacks of food to school children living in poverty, and is one that Chef Jodi is extremely passionate about. She is also involved in several of its other programs. Earlier this year, she collaborated with the Food Bank as part of a five-week cooking series with a local elementary school, in which she guided a group of 4th and 5th graders through a variety of lessons, such as food preparation and nutritious meal selection.
“I’ve always been passionate about feeding people, so when it came to my attention so many in our community struggle with hunger, it really hit home for me,” Chef Jodi said. “I’m so grateful for this opportunity to help more in need and increase awareness of this worthy cause.”
About the Food Bank:
The Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank is the largest hunger-relief organization in San Diego County. Last year, the Food Bank distributed 26 million pounds of food, and the Food Bank serves, on average, 370,000 people per month in San Diego County. The Food Bank works to acquire, store, organize and distribute food through a network of 400 nonprofit partner organizations that include food pantries, soup kitchens, homeless and residential shelters, youth programs, senior centers and low-income daycare centers in communities throughout San Diego County. The Food Bank also distributes food directly to those in need at 180 distribution sites throughout the county.
For more information on the Food Bank and its many programs, please visit http://www.sandiegofoodbank.org.
