Mama's Kitchen Raises More Than $47,000 at Mama's Day Fundraiser

San Diego CA

28 May, 2021

7:51 PM

Description

On Friday, May 7, Mama's Kitchen held its annual Mama's Day fundraiser online to raise critical funds needed to continue its mission to deliver three medically tailored nutritional meals a day, seven days a week, free of charge for local individuals and families vulnerable to hunger due to HIV, cancer or other critical illnesses, including congestive heart failure, type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease. This year, the nonprofit raised more than $47,000 with the generous support of longtime sponsor, Sycuan Casino Resort, which will provide 9,400 meals to San Diegans in need. In addition to sponsoring this year's event, Sycuan Casino Resort also initiated a $10,000 Fund-A-Meal match in support of Mama's Day. At an approximate cost of $5 per meal, the match funds 4,000 meals in support of San Diego's neighbors in need. In total, Sycuan Casino Resort supported Mama's Day with $25,000 to directly fund Mama's Kitchen's crucial nutrition services. "We are proud to partner with Mama's Kitchen once again to help raise much-needed funds for their vital meal services," said Cody Martinez, chairman, Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation. "Sycuan has supported Mama's Kitchen for more than two decades and we continue to be inspired by the incredible work that this organization does throughout the entire San Diego region. Thank you for making such a positive difference in the lives of our community's most vulnerable and we are honored to continue to support this very important mission." With Sam "The Cooking Guy" Zien at the helm as culinary host, attendees enjoyed an at-home celebration with live entertainment, special presentations, an opportunity drawing, and so much more. All who attended also enjoyed a special presentation from Chad Michaels, RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars Season One winner and the producer of San Diego's "Dreamgirls Revue." To close out the event, Sam "The Cooking Guy" and Mama's Kitchen Executive Chef Jason Martin went head-to-head in a culinary cook-off using a crowd-voted mystery ingredient: miso. Chef Martin walked away with the victory with his miso shrimp tacos. To recreate their culinary cook-off recipes, click here. Sponsors for this year's Mama's Day also included Hyatt Regency La Jolla at Aventine, Bryan Crail & Tim Reed, Northrop Grumman, Encore Global, and Scatena Daniels Communications. Couldn't attend Mama's Day? You can watch the full online event anytime, anywhere. For more information on how to support Mama's Kitchen visit mamaskitchen.org. ABOUT MAMA'S KITCHENMama's Kitchen was established in 1990 by a San Diego caregiver who enlisted volunteers to prepare and deliver free meals to neighbors who were sick with HIV/AIDS and unable to cook for themselves. The organization realized that a reliable home meal delivery service was needed to ensure that these individuals would continue to receive nutritious, life-sustaining food. In 2004, Mama's Pantry was launched to serve HIV+ San Diegans who are healthy enough to cook but unable to purchase nutritious food due to extremely low income. Since then, the organization has expanded their Home-Delivered Meal Service program to other at-risk populations including those battling cancer (2006), individuals with heart failure and diabetes (2018), and individuals with chronic kidney disease (2020). Beyond medically tailored meals, clients also receive nutritional counseling from registered dietitians. In 2021, the organization delivered its 10 millionth meal. For 30 years, Mama's Kitchen has never turned away a client who qualified for its services. During the current COVID-19 pandemic, the organization responded to an overall 50 percent increase in demand, welcoming more than 1,400 new critically ill clients, and delivering more than 750,000 meals since the pandemic began. Mama's Kitchen will continue to provide emergency response efforts and currently provides home-delivered meals and nutrition education services to over 2,000 individuals and families in San Diego County annually. Learn more and make a donation at www.mamaskitchen.org. Connect with Mama's Kitchen on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.