Raise
Over
$200,000
to
benefit
the
United
Way of
New York
City at
“What’s
on the
Table?”
New
York,
NY,
August
27, 2012 –
Saturday
evening,
August
25th,
Top Chef
and
restaurateur
Tom
Colicchio
and
his wife
filmmaker
Lori
Silverbush,
rocker
Jon
Bon Jovi
his wife
Dorothea
Hurley,
Susan
Burden,
and
philanthropist
Avis
Richards
and
Marathon
hedge
fund
co-founder
Bruce
Richards
hosted
the 2nd
annual
“What’s
on the
Table?”,
an event
to
benefit
the
anti-hunger
programs
of the
United
Way of
New York
City.
Over
$200,000
was
raised
to
benefit
UWNYC’s
work to
reduce
hunger
and
provide
more
nutritious
food for
struggling
children,
families
and
seniors.
In
addition
to
Colicchio
and Bon
Jovi,
guests
included
chef
Katie
Lee,
supermodel
Hilary
Rhoda,
CNN
anchor
Alina
Cho,
Estee
Lauder
head
John
Demsey,
Dan
Abrams,
actress
Natasha
Bell,
Royal
Pains
actor
Rupak
Ginn,
Bloomberg
TV host
Matt
Miller,
Dayssi
and Paul
Olarte
de
Kanavos,
Duane
Hampton,
Louise
Grunwald,
Esther
Newberg,
Charmaine
and
Carter
Burden,
and
Stephanie
Hirsch.
United
Way of
New York
City’s
Jennifer
Jones
Austin,
Senior
Vice-President
for
Community
Investment
and
Kevin
Taylor,
Senior
Vice
President
for
Institutional
Advancement
were
also in
attendance.
Held at
the
Southampton
home of
Avis and
Bruce
Richards,
“What’s
on the
Table?”
emphasized
the need
not only
to help
the
hungry
in New
York
City
access
to food
in times
of
emergency
but to
ensure
that
food
they
receive
is fresh
and
nutritious.
In
keeping
with the
theme,
guests
dined on
culinary
delights
from
five of
Tom
Colicchio’s
restaurants.
Chefs
from
Colicchio
and
Sons,
Craft,
Riverpark,
Craftsteak
and
Topping
Rose
each
offered
two
dishes
featuring
a local,
in-season
ingredient.
These
included
zucchini
(ricotta
stuffed
and
fried
zucchini
blossoms),
corn
(corn
chowder),
and
raspberries
(raspberry
cobbler),
among
others.
In their
speeches,
Colicchio,
Bon Jovi,
both
Richards,
and Ms.
Silverbush
–
director
of the
forthcoming
documentary
about
hunger
titled
“A Place
at the
Table” –
stressed
the
critical
nature
of the
issue
hunger
in
America.
One
startling
statistic
revealed
is that
1 in 5
children
go
hungry
daily in
the
United
States.
Guests
were
encouraged
to call
their
Congressional
representatives
to
protect
funding
in the
Farm
Bill for
the
Supplemental
Nutrition
Assistance
Program,
which
puts
healthy
food on
the
table
for 46
million
Americans
each
month.
100% of
the
evening’s
net
proceeds
went to
the
United
Way’s
campaign
to
significantly
reduce
hunger
in New
York
City. A
portion
of the
funds
raised
came
from an
exciting
auction
presided
over by
Cate
Smit,
who sold
a
surprise
item: a
private
dinner
cooked
by Tom
Colicchio
with a
performance
by Jon
Bon Jovi
at the
bidder’s
home.
It went
for
$40,000.