Hundreds fill San Francisco’s The Hibernia for Super Bowl’s largest philanthropic event

By Amanda Hari

World-class chefs, players, and fans united Saturday to tackle a common opponent: hunger.

Hundreds of people filled The Hibernia in San Francisco for a purpose-driven culinary experience that happens at the Super Bowl each year. 

Taste of the NFL is the Super Bowl’s largest philanthropic event. 

There is food from some of the most notable chefs in the country and all proceeds go to GenYouth, a nonprofit committed to ending youth food insecurity.

“No children should go hungry in America, especially in school,” said Iron Chef Cat Cora.

Cora is donating her time and skills to Taste of the NFL, and when she heard all proceeds from the event go to GenYouth, she needed to be involved.

GenYouth works to help end student hunger and foster nutrition security in the Bay Area and across the nation.

Cora is a mom of six. She knows how kids are impacted if they go to school hungry.

“We have the means to give them a meal in the morning when they leave but a lot of parents don’t and there’s so many kids that have so much food insecurity there,” said Cora. “They can’t focus in school, they’re hungry, they’re depressed, there’s a lot that goes into it when you’re hungry!”

According to GenYouth, one in five children live in food insecure homes and 30 million children rely on school meals. Pastry chef Lasheeda Perry was once one of those kids.

“It’s a full circle moment for me,” Perry explained. “I grew up in public high schools where I was eager to go to school for the meals.”

Perry spent some time living in a shelter with her family. She knows the impact of organizations like GenYouth.

She’s been a part of Taste of the NFL for years, and she has no plans on stopping.

“The mission is always the same,” said Perry. “I’m going to keep coming as long as the mission is the same.”

CEO of GenYouth Ann Marie Krautheim says this is the largest philanthropic event that takes place at the Super Bowl each year, and it’s one of their biggest fundraisers.

“Last year our collective impact was 2.2 million,” said Krautheim. “It allowed us to increase impact to 146 million meals for children across the country.”

They are hoping to match or exceed that this year. Cora knows that money can change lives.

“I really want to make sure that we are not leaving any child behind and that every child gets a good, nutritious, healthy meal at least twice a day,” said Cora. “And they can do that in school.”