(OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLA) – The 31st annual Chefs’ Feast, presented by BancFirst, showcased 21 of the best restaurants and chefs in the Oklahoma City metro area. In total, more than $155,000 was raised from the food tasting event on April 10, which benefited the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma’s Food for Kids Programs. Thanks to support from area restaurants and the community, 1,550 chronically hungry students will receive meals for an entire year through a Food for Kids Program.
“We want to thank all of the chefs, guests, sponsors and volunteers for helping us fight childhood hunger at Chefs’ Feast,” said Katie Fitzgerald, chief executive officer of the Regional Food Bank. “No child should ever go to bed hungry, yet one in four children in Oklahoma lives with hunger. Your support through Chefs’ Feast is the difference between whether a child goes to bed hungry or sleeps soundly through the night. Thank you for caring and for giving.”
Chef Rob Johnson from US Foods and Chef Don Thiery from Guckenheimer Cafes at American Fidelity were co-chairs for the event. This year, Chef Thiery also received the most votes from guests and won the 2018 Foodie Favorite Award.
Participating chefs and restaurants included: Cafe7/ Venue 7, Chef Jay Mays; CocoFlow Chocolate Café, Chefs Kim and Gene Leiterman; Esca Vitae Café & Bakery, Chef Mitchell Dunzy; Flint at Colcord Hotel, Chef Patrick Williams; Gages Steakhouse, Chef Rob Ferris; Gopuram Taste of India, Chef Veeral Mehta; Kam’s Kookery & Guilford Gardens, Chefs Kamala Gamble and Barbara Mock; Kitchen 324, Chef Adam Halacka; McNeal’s Catering, Chef Larry McNeal; Meat Market Refectory, Chef Jonas Favela; OSUIT, Chef Aaron Ware; Park Avenue Grill at Skirvin Hotel, Chef Aaron Miles; Platt College, Chefs Adam Carleton and Caleb Byers; Poppin’ Cheesecakes, LLC, Chef Latisha Shannon ; Silks Restaurant at Remington Park, Chef Emily Foy; SONIC Drive-In Culinary Innovations, Chef Eddie Hartwick; The Drake, Chef Adam Ramsey; Valir Café, Chef Terrance West and Whole Foods Market.
Donations raised at Chefs’ Feast will help feed chronically hungry children through the Regional Food Bank’s Food for Kids Programs. Last school year, the Regional Food Bank provided more than 3 million meals for chronically hungry children through the Backpack Program, Kids Café, Summer Feeding and the School Pantry Program.
· Through the Backpack Program, children receive a backpack full of kid-friendly, non-perishable and nutritious food on Friday to sustain them over weekends and school holidays.
· Kids Café and Snack Sites provide food, mentoring, tutoring and a variety of other activities to children in central and western Oklahoma.
· Summer Feeding offers free breakfast and/or lunch to children 18 and younger in low-income areas over the summer months.
· The School Pantry Program provides chronically hungry middle and high school students with food to sustain them after school and over the weekends.
For more information about Chefs’ Feast, or to make a donation to Food for Kids, visit ChefsFeast.org or call 405-972-1111.
Chefs’ Feast was presented by BancFirst. Chefs’ Feast sponsors included: APMEX.com, Devon Energy, Cresap Family Foundation, Chesapeake Energy, US Foods, 110 Events, News 9, QuikPrint, BC Clark Jewelers, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oklahoma, Dell, Trawick Images, Magic 104.1 KMGL, Tenaris USA, Echo Energy, Express Employment Professionals, Yelp and Lamar Outdoor.
About the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma
The Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma is the state’s largest hunger-relief organization and a member of Feeding America’s network of Food Banks. The 501(c)(3) nonprofit provides enough food to feed more than 136,000 hungry Oklahomans each week through a network of more than 1,300 schools and charitable feeding programs in 53 central and western Oklahoma counties. Since its inception in 1980, the Regional Food Bank has distributed more than 613 million pounds of food to feed Oklahomans living with hunger. For more information, visit https://www.regionalfoodbank.org; find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/regionalfoodbank or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/rfbo.
