Fighting Hunger & Having Fun at LA Food Bank

As someone who makes a living by eating, writing and talking about food, it’s almost unimaginable that so many people go hungry every day. Not only around the world, but right here in my own backyard. In fact, one in six people in Los Angeles County is at risk for hunger. It’s a humbling and sobering reminder to never take food for granted.

With that in mind, on Saturday, August 10, Valerie Bertinelli + LA’s top chefs and fooderati got together for a day of volunteering at the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank in Downtown LA. It was all organized by Jo Stouggard of My Last Bite and Gelson’s Market provided the cool tees we wore with the #LABitesHunger logo. In between sorting apples, carrots and questionable-looking pears (see photo gallery below), we hashtagged all morning to raise awareness for the cause. We were only there for a few hours, but we managed to sort through more than 65,000 pounds of produce!

As for the volunteers, it was pretty much a who’s who in the foodie world, so it was fun to see lots of familiar faces (shout-out to the always insane Nguyen Tran of Starry Kitchen, cray-cray K-chef Debbie Lee and Eddie Lin of Deep End Dining) and meet some new peeps like the guys from Scratch Bar and Adam Perry Lang of Serious BBQ. And let’s not forget Valerie Bertinelli. I already love her in “Hot In Cleveland,” but she’s even more fun in person and a HUUUUGE foodie–she seems to have all the chefs on speed dial!

Ludo Lefebvre, Scratch Bar dudes, Eddie Lin, Valerie Bertinelli and Marpop!

It was my first time spending a Saturday morning at the LA food bank and now that I know about this organization, it won’t be my last. Maybe I’ll see you there???

For more info, check out @LABitesHunger and www.lafoodbank.org

Mar Yvette

Lifestyle writer Mar Yvette is on a mission to bring you the best people, places, and products to make your life pop!