By Rachel Terrill, Player Engagement Insider
On the eve of Super Bowl 50, The Taste of the NFL celebrated its 25th anniversary as the “Party With a Purpose” at The Cow Palace in San Francisco.
The Taste of the NFL gives both NFL players and top chefs the opportunity to give back. World-renowned chefs, one from each of the 32 NFL cities, prepared and served their culinary favorites to the sell-out crowd of partygoers.
In addition, NFL Hall of Fame Legends donned their golden jackets, Super Bowl champions showed off their championship rings, and NFL players and Legends from across the country united to help fill food banks across America.
The Taste of the NFL has raised more than $24 million that has been distributed to food banks in each NFL city, which has helped to provide nearly two hundred million meals since its inception in 1992.
Partygoers rubbed elbows with dozens of football and culinary greats including Hall of Famers Jack Youngblood, Curley Culp, Dave Wilcox, and Bobby Bell. A myriad of chefs fed and entertained guests, including Andrew Zimmern, Ann Burrell, and the stars of TV’s The Cake Boss
“We have never paid a single NFL player or chef to attend,” said Wayne Kostroski, founder of The Taste of the NFL. “For players the first year, I just asked a couple of friends who played for the Vikings if they would help. They said yes. So I asked a couple of chefs in the restaurant business if they wanted to help too. It grew from there,” he said.
The Taste of the NFL challenges each NFL city’s representative chef and NFL player to compete in the “Kick Hunger Challenge”. In advance of the Super Bowl event, each chef and player pair is tasked with raising at least $10,000. The team that raises the most money receives an additional $10,000, added to 100% of the funds they raised for their city’s food banks.
The New England Patriots’ team, led by Chef Steve DeFillippo of Davio’s in Boston, blew the competition away this year. Together, the NFL player and chef team raised over $130,000. Together, the 32 NFL city’s teams and the Hall of Fame team this year raised over $350,000 for their cities’ food banks.
Millions of people seek assistance from food banks. “Eradicating hunger in America is ultimately the goal,” said Kostroski. “But if we can provide meals for even one more family, for one less child to go hungry, then we have made a difference that matters.”
For more information, check out www.tasteofthenfl.com