Thank you to all the attendees, sponsors and donors who made Feed the Valley Cook’s Challenge Year 5 a success. Through your generosity raised more than $147,000 for Valley Outreach programs! Our mission-focused event highlighted the work we do with the generous support of community members – from wine bottles in socks (representative of the 15,000 pairs of socks and underwear we gave out last year) to the balsamic vinegar at each place setting (seasonings are a top 5 most wanted item for our food shelf).
As a special treat – in celebration of our 35 year anniversary – three of our favorite local chefs competed in our Cook’s Challenge, Mike Willenbring, Paul Mahoney and Brent Pilrain. The must-use ingredients from the Valley Outreach food shelf were; salmon steak, chuck eye steak, ground coffee, cannellini beans and a fresh kale and squash blend. We had an all-star panel of judges; Amy Carter, Executive Chef, Product Development at Lunds & Byerlys, Janel Hutton, Founder of NellieBellie and Olivier Vrambout, Former Chef/Owner of L’Etoile Du Nord Cafe and Owner of Vélo du Nord. They carefully critiqued each dish and selected Brent Pilrain as the winning chef!
Through volunteerism, financial generosity and the simple desire to help, Valley Outreach responds to the needs around us. As Monique, one of our volunteers, shared, “I think in order for the world to get better, it’s one person, one neighborhood, one community at a time.”
On Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, it was indeed one person and one community at a time – enjoying each other’s company and supporting a mission that everyone can get behind. We help people move their lives forward through basic needs services and personalized support.
We were delighted to be highlighted during the evening news that evening, thanks for the shout out, Dave Dahl! (Move ahead to 14:02 in the broadcast.)
https://kstp.com/news/watch-full-newscast-5-eyewitness-news-at-10-friday-november-9-on-demand/5140296/?cat=12157