Pensacola Business Radio-FoodieLife Radio Series: Chef Challenge to End Hunger

Cathy Pope/Feeding The Gulf Coast
CEO

KYLE SCHOOLAR | External Relations & Volunteer Manager

Chef Challenge is Feeding the Gulf Coast’s fundraiser that brings together some of our area’s most celebrated chefs and restaurants for an evening of superb food and drink while they compete to win best dish of the night in their respective category. Guests also will enjoy live entertainment by Roman Street and a vast silent auction, all in the name of ending hunger.

Chef Challenge is held to help advocate Hunger Action Month (September). Hunger Action Month is a nationwide awareness campaign set forth by our corporate affiliate, Feeding America, that educates the public about the issue of hunger and helps raise awareness about our hunger-relief efforts along the Central Gulf Coast.

Tickets can be purchased for $60 prior to the event, $75 at the door.

Guests must be 21 and over.

Cathy Pope has served as the President and CEO of Feeding the Gulf Coast since September of 2016. Formerly the executive director of Meals on Wheels of Central Georgia, Cathy has spent years combating hunger in communities. In her 25 years of work experience, Pope has worked at the Susan G. Komen Foundation, managed her own business, taught high school math, worked as an adjunct college instructor in microeconomics, and as a network engineer for Bell Atlantic. Pope has an undergraduate degree in mathematics, a Master’s in Business Administration and a Master’s in Political Science. Cathy has four children, two in college and two recent college graduates, all living in Georgia.

Mission

Working through member organizations and special programs, we provide nutritious food to meet the challenge of feeding people who are hungry as a result of personal crisis or disaster. We work to educate the public regarding domestic hunger, proper nutrition and related issues.

Feeding the Gulf Coast, formerly Bay Area Food Bank, serves a 24-county area spanning south Alabama, south Mississippi, and the panhandle of Florida. In 2016, the food bank distributed over 22 million pounds of food to nearly 400 church pantries, soup kitchens and other nonprofit organizations throughout its service area. The food bank also operates multiple nutrition programs, including Summer Food Service, Afterschool Snack, Backpack, Disaster Relief, Community Garden, Mobile Pantry, Produce Drop, Cooking Matters, and SNAP Outreach. Feeding the Gulf Coast is a United Way agency and a member of Feeding America. For more information, visit www.feedingthegulfcoast.org.

FACEBOOK

FoodieLife is a foodie based network, website and streaming TV site, that connects viewers to the back of the house stories and life style and the passion of Chefs and Foodies. Foodielife.TV strives to be your best behind the scenes inside scoop when it comes to food, hospitality and the lifestyles of those who live it. We are commited to telling the stories and sharing the traditions. Foodielife is inspiring and empowering locals by embracing history, storytelling, and culture through food. Foodielife.TV is distributed to more than 12,000 unique web users monthly, since launching in 2014. Based in Pensacola, FL, Foodielife.TV has a growing international presence with its concept “You Say Tomato.”