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BROOKLYNITES COME TOGETHER TO HELP END HUNGER

Photographs by Andy Kadin

Photo 1: Borough President Markowitz joins Share Our Strength and event participants to announce first annual Taste of the Nation Brooklyn.

Taste of the Nation Brooklyn Benefit Comes to Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park

On Tuesday, June 7, Borough President Markowitz joined Share Our Strength to announce the first annual Taste of the Nation Brooklyn. On Thursday, June 16, 2005, Brooklyn’s top chefs, artists, fashion designers, and authors will gather at Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park on Water Street in Brooklyn to kick off the first annual Taste of the Nation Brooklyn to benefit local and national anti-hunger and anti-poverty organizations. This tasting event, sponsored by American Express and Jenn-Air, is part of Share Our Strength’s annual Taste of the Nation events, the country’s preeminent culinary benefit—and the first tasting event of its kind—supporting the fight to end hunger.

Guests will sample signature dishes of classic Brooklyn culinary institutions such as Junior‘s and Bubby’s Brooklyn, and have the opportunity to discover newcomers along Brooklyn’s 5th Avenue restaurant row, including Blue Ribbon, Tempo Restaurant & Wine Bar, and Stone Park Café. In addition, guests will sample tastes from restaurants across the borough, including Applewood, Aunt Suzie‘s, Blue Ribbon Sushi, Cake Man Raven, Five Front, Ici, Les Babouches, Liberty Kitchen, Madiba, Minnow, Miracle Grill, Osaka, Rice, and Rosewater.

“Brooklyn is home to an astounding array of restaurants reflecting the many cultures of Brooklyn residents,” said Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. “Taste of the Nation Brooklyn is a wonderful opportunity for people from all over New York City to come experience the culinary scene that everyone’s buzzing about, while helping out a very worthy cause.”

Taste of the Nation Brooklyn 2005 will also feature “ Brooklyn at its Best” displays by some of the borough’s hottest artists including: Willie Mae Brown, Dorcas Gelabert, Scott Henstrand, Leon Nicholas Kalas, Tom Kocsis, Melanie Kozol, Danny Simmons, GG Stankiewicz, Yeachin Tsai, Ellie Winberg, and Zok Sheehan Saldaqa. Fashion designs by Earth Speaks, Brooklyn Industries, Jamie Krietman, Yvonne Chu for Kimera and more will be on display, and authors from Brooklyn-based publishing companies will be on hand to sign their latest works.

In New York City, 22% of the population lives below the poverty line and is at serious risk of hunger. In New York State, nearly 3.5 million children from low-income families rely on school breakfast, lunch and summer food programs for what might be their only nutritious meals of the day. To help combat the problem, Share Our Strength will donate 100% of the proceeds from ticket sales from Taste of the Nation Brooklyn to organizations including ACCION New York, City Harvest, Community Food Resource Center, Food Bank For New York City, God’s Love We Deliver, and Just Food.

To raise additional funds, guests may participate in a silent auction featuring amazing products—including trips, spa gift certificates and tickets to top television shows—culinary experiences, Christian Dior, Aveda, and many others.

More than 36 million Americans are at risk of hunger today and 13 million of those are children. Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation events have rallied more than 6,000 chefs, restaurateurs, and community leaders to raise more than $52 million to support over 450 of the most effective anti-hunger programs worldwide.

“In communities across the country, Taste of the Nation mobilizes thousands of Americans to join the fight against childhood hunger,” said Billy Shore, Founder and Executive Director of Share Our Strength. “From the chefs to the volunteers and our corporate partners to the guests, Taste of the Nation is about a committed group sharing their strength, contributing that talent that is uniquely theirs. Together they are helping to build the first hunger-free generation in America by ending childhood hunger.”

The Taste of the Nation Brooklyn 2005 ho norary chairs are Marty Markowitz, Brooklyn Borough President, and Frank Comerford, President & General Manager, WNBC.   Taste of the Nation Brooklyn sponsors include Sysco, The Corcoran Group, Fairmont Funding, Brooklyn Industries, Brooklyn Brewery, Peerless Merchants, Southern Wine & Spirits of New York, Charmer Industries, Brooklyn Southpaw and WNBC-TV.

For more information and to buy tickets for the event, visit www.tasteofthenation.org, or call 1-877-26-TASTE. Tickets are $75 per person for general admission (pre-sale), $90 day of the event; special VIP tickets, which provide an hour-long preview, specialty cocktails, a premium champagne toast, exclusive food and beverage offerings, and more are available for $125 pre-sale or for $150 on the day of the event.