LOS ANGELES — The fourth annual Taste of the Rams event attracted more than 400 Los Angeles community members and raised more than $150,000 to benefit the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.
To date, this annual event has raised roughly $650,000 – enough for the Food Bank to provide enough food for more than 2.5 million meals.
Todd Gurley II shared his star power once again as the Honorary Chair of the event for the third consecutive year. “It’s a good feeling, putting smiles on other peoples’ faces and just doing it out of the kindness of your heart,” said Gurley, whose mother was also in attendance. “That was the way I was raised and that’s the way I feel it should be.”
Steve Samson of Rossoblu and Superfine Pizza has supported the event since its inception and served as the night’s chef spokesperson. “Like many of the other chefs who made this night possible, I have a passion for feeding people,” Chef Samson said. “As a father, it hurts to know that there are so many families with children in our community who don’t know how they are going to feed themselves. I am proud to support Taste of the Rams and the work of the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank because I know it makes a difference for people in need.”
Don Lee Farms was the presenting sponsor of this year’s event. “Don Lee Farms is proud to be the presenting sponsor for Taste of the Rams again this year,” said Donald Goodman, President of Don Lee Farms. “We are happy to support the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank – one of the best charities in Los Angeles. As a company based in Los Angeles, we care about our local community and know that we all have to come together to fight hunger in Los Angeles County.”
Other sponsors included International Paper, the Los Angeles Rams, US Bank, Paramount, Akin Gump, Sue Leonard, Michael Connolly, Gary Kirkpatrick, and more.
“The fourth annual Taste of the Rams event was a tremendous success,” said Michael Flood, President and CEO of the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. “We are grateful for Don Lee Farms and our other sponsors, as well as the support of Todd Gurley II and the Los Angeles Rams. We are also grateful to the amazing Chefs who participated, and to the wonderful people who attended the event.”
VIP attendees included:
13 amazing LA Chefs: GINO CAMPAGNA – Barilla, GIAN CATERINA – Antojitos, CHRISTOPHER FELDMEIER – Love & Salt, RAPHAEL FRANCOIS – Tesse, TED HOPSON – The Bellwether, JACKSON KALB – Jame Enoteca, FERN KEWATHATIP and NOREE PLA – Luv2Eat Thai Bistro, MARY SUE MILLIKEN AND SUSAN FENIGER – Border Grill, Socalo, STEVE SAMSON – Superfine Pizza and Rossoblu, ADAM SOBEL – Osteria Cal Mare, YOYA TAKAHASHI – UMI, KRISTEN THIBEAULT – Nybll and BENJAMIN UDAVE – Sysco.
Andrew Siciliano, the host of NFL RedZone on the NFL Network (Master of Ceremonies)
Todd Gurley II of the Los Angeles Rams (Event Chair)
Other Rams players including Austin Corbett, Josh Reynolds, Dakota Allen and Landis Durham
Rampage (Rams mascot) and the Los Angeles Rams Cheerleaders
Thanks to financial and food donors, volunteers and community events like the Taste of the Rams, the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank is able to feed 300,000 people on a monthly basis.
However, more work needs to be done to alleviate hunger for the 1 in 5 people in LA County who face food insecurity. It is estimated that 2 million people in our community may not know where their next meal is coming from.
To help us close the hunger gap, please visit LAFoodBank.org/donate.
The fifth annual Taste of the Rams will take place in 2020. Visit LAFoodBank.org/rams for more information, and follow @LAFoodBank on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.