Bracken’s Kitchen aims to beat the odds at annual Hunger Games event

Bill Bracken is now 11 years into running his 501(c)(3) organization, Bracken’s Kitchen in Garden Grove. He is also preparing for the seventh year of the nonprofit’s signature culinary competition and fundraising event, the Hunger Games.

“We are so proud of how this event represents what we do,” Bracken said in a statement.

The founder and culinary director of Bracken’s Kitchen is well known in the Orange County food community for his work with the county’s food insecure and for appearances on shows like celebrity chef Roy Choi’s Emmy Award-winning PBS SoCal series, “Broken Bread.”

The organization operates on what Bracken calls a trio of services: a rescue food program, culinary training program and community feed program.

Bracken’s Kitchen’s mission is to serve the roughly 500,000 people in Orange County who are struggling with food insecurity. This year’s event, Hunger Games 7.0, invites local chefs like Shachi Mehra of Adya, James Hamamori of Hamamori Restaurant and Sushi Bar and Allan Tea of Cali Dumpling Co. to compete for the title of “Hunger Games Champion,” with attendees acting as judges.

“Providing high-quality food to those in need through the support of these talented chefs and their culinary delights is both fun and rewarding,” said Bracken. “We are blessed to gather so many chefs, guests and supporters to enjoy an evening of culinary wonder while raising awareness and support for our mission: rescuing, re-purposing, and restoring both food and lives through food rescue, culinary training, and our community feeding program.”

Bracken’s Kitchen’s rescue food program works to divert edible food from becoming waste and repurposes it to feed the hungry. An example of rescued or recovered food Bracken’s Kitchen has saved from the garbage can includes 1,500 pounds of frozen corn, originally purchased for a large corn chowder order that was canceled. Thirty to 40% of America’s food supply goes to waste, according to Bracken’s Kitchen, and in 2015, 22,000 tons of edible food waste was generated in Orange County specifically.

Grocer Food 4 Less/Foods Co. has an ongoing commitment to mitigating food waste, and the company has partnered with Bracken’s Kitchen for this years event.

“Our partnership with Bracken’s Kitchen is a testament to our shared vision of a world with zero hunger and zero waste,” said Salvador Ramirez, corporate affairs manager at Food 4 Less/Foods Co., in a statement. “We’re excited to contribute to this meaningful event and continue our work together to create sustainable change in our communities. With so much anticipation building among community partners and food lovers, we’re looking forward to the impact this event will have.”

Bites from last year’s Hunger Games event from Bracken’s Kitchen in Garden Grove.

(Lisa Hu Chen)

Food 4 Less/Foods Co. has contributed $20,000 to Bracken’s Kitchen that will not only help sponsor Hunger Games 7.0 but also contribute to funding to expand the organization’s culinary training program and provide 10,000 meals for the hungry.

Hunger Games 7.0 will be hosted at the organization’s commercial kitchen in Garden Grove on Sept. 12 at 5:30 p.m. Although admission tickets are sold out, the nonprofit is still short on its $500,000 goal, a sum the organization hopes can help beat the odds on hunger in Orange County. At press time, the campaign had raised $267,140 so far.

There are still opportunities for event sponsorship, and donations of any amount can be made to support the cause on the Bracken Kitchen website.