Food banks across Kentucky will benefit from a fundraising effort by a 16 year old Louisville student. Chad Kamen formed the nonprofit Team Food Chain about six years ago. Kamen says the idea for the project came from his interest in a television show. "I had a huge interest in 'Top Chef', the TV show and I was in love with cooking,” said Kamen. “My mom and I would cook these family dinners together and I started to kind of think about well I guess someone else probably can't have a family dinner somewhere."
The $22,500 raised by Kamen's Team Food Chain will go to the Kentucky Association of Food Banks. Director Tamara Sandberg says the donation will be used to distribute 125,000 pounds of fresh produce through the Farms to Food Banks program, an initiative that reimburses farmers for harvesting and delivering fresh surplus produce that would otherwise go to waste.
Kamen says he tried for a couple of years to tie the fundraising effort to the establishment of a new Kentucky license plate. "As much as I wish I could say I have the energy to work on it again, I'm kind of depleted,” Kamen said. “So, if someone else tries to take on the initiative of getting a plate for hunger relief in this state, I would totally be behind them. But sadly I don't think I can push it any further myself."
Sandberg says the donation is the equivalent to filling a half plate of fruits and vegetables for 192,000 meals.?
