Nobody, let alone any child, should have to repeatedly go to bed hungry. Without food, individuals are not able to receive the nourishment needed for strength and live a prosperous life. Food and nourishment is the foundation to living and making it through the day.
Food and nourishment is the foundation for individuals to have success, allowing one to be able to think, make wise decisions and most importantly learn.
Without food and nourishment individuals are weak, struggle and might possibly never have the opportunity to become and adult and showcase the talents they have to the ability to complete.
These individuals without food and nourishment could very easily pass away before having a true impact on the world.
What if one of these individuals who did not have sufficient food and nourishment held the key to curing cancer? What if one of these individuals who did not have sufficient food and nourishment held the key to curing the HIV virus?
The world would never know because there is the high probability these individuals would pass away without demonstrating their talents due to the lack of food and nourishment.
Therefore, it is best to combat the problem of hunger relief head on and allow for those who do not have the proper food and nourishment to become strong and live a prosperous life.
Wayne Kostroski started an event to raise awareness and money for hunger relief. Twenty-five years later, “Taste of the NFL,” where current and former NFL Players, celebrities, chefs and fans “Party with a Purpose” to raise awareness and money for hunger relief, making this event the NFL-sanctioned charitable event at the Super Bowl that is the most successful.
Host for the night, Chef Andrew Zimmern, expressed how he was glad to be at the event, yet did not know why this nation was in the situation it was when it came to fighting hunger.
“I’m thrilled this event has grown to the size that it has,” Zimmern said. “Children going to be hungry at night is embarrassing. A lot of people think it’s shameful and I think it’s criminal. I don’t understand how in a nation that has so much, why we allow so many to have so little.”
Alyssa Milano, in her second year of attending “Taste of the NFL,” shared her sentiment of how important this event is to her.
“It’s important. There are children who go to bed hungry in this country every night and it’s unacceptable to me,” Milano expressed. “The Taste of the NFL brings together the best chefs just to raise awareness of such an important thing we are dealing with in this country.”
Daniel Whitney, who most everyone knows as Larry the Cable Guy, brought humor as he entered the red carpet singing and cracking jokes. Yet, he realized how important “Taste of the NFL” is when aiding in hunger relief.
“Prilosec OTC, we teamed up with ‘Taste of the NFL’, who has been doing this for 25 years,” Whitney said. “It’s a fantastic thing. They are giving meals to the people who need it.”
Whitney then shared information, which is going to aide many families, in the hunger relief effort.
“We are giving a check for $125,000, which is one million meals,” Whitney shared.
On the night, chefs from each of the 32 NFL cities participate by cooking a dish relating to the city, or state, for those in attendance to sample. But also, those in attendance can meet with alumni and current players from their favorite, or hometown, NFL team. These players signed autographs and posed for pictures with fans, all in the light-hearted environment raising money for hunger relief.
This year, “Taste of the NFL” was held Cow Palace – an event center where there were three parts.
The NFC side, consisting of all of the NFC teams along with an open bar in the center, was represented by the Carolina Panthers team headlining as the representative in Super Bowl 50.
The AFC side, consisted of all of the AFC teams, along with an open bar in the center, was represented by the Denver Broncos team headlining as the representative in Super Bowl 50.
Between the two halls, a merchandise and silent auction area, where those in attendance could purchase items from the night as souvenirs, or autograph items, or take a chance on winning priceless merchandise. The highlight auction item, a diamond and blue sapphire necklace with 47 oval natural blue sapphires, with 846 cut diamonds. The raffle also included a pair of Super Bowl 50 tickets.
This raffle those was limited to 300 tickets, at $100 per ticket, but what was the most important thing about the raffle, each ticket purchased provided 800 meals to those for hunger relief.
Third Eye Blind ended the night with a great concert that rocked the house, as their new album, “Dopamine,” was just released.
However, Zimmern summed up the night perfectly, as he expressed what everyone felt.
“In some small way we are hoping to make a difference here tonight,” he said.
