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You all know Chef Bruno Serato by now, owner of the Anaheim White House Restaurant and founder of an amazing charity, Caterina's Club, that feeds more than 25,000 kids in need every week in 90 locations across LA and Orange County.
For the last 10 years, we've been working with Chef Bruno to help him with his effort to feed these children who are food insecure and living with their families in low income local motels with no access to a hot meal at night. These are families that are on the brink of homelessness because of their financial situation. Our #KFIPastaThon event every December is the biggest fundraising effort for Caterina's Club which enables him to continue and expand his work.
Through the charity's three pronged approach, they aim to break the cycle of poverty. Chef Bruno not only feeds the children each week, but also helps these families get back into stable housing with their Welcome Home program, and with his Hospitality Academy, he teaches teens the skills they need to know to be ready to work in the hospitality industry when they're ready to get a job.
Chef Bruno has said in a 'normal' year, he couldn't do what he does without the #KFIPastathon donations, and for that we thank all of YOU who make that event such a success each year.
Chef Bruno has overcome incredible odds over the years, including a devastaing fire that destroyed the restaurant a few years ago. Despite that fire, Chef Bruno not only continued to feed the kids without missing a day, but expanded his program further to feed more children while he waited to rebuild
The last few weeks have thrust another challenge on Chef Bruno. Because of the pandemic, the restaurant is closed for business right now, which is a huge hit on Chef Bruno financially, but, like he did so many years ago when he mortgaged his own home to keep the charity going, he won't be deterred.
Answering the call to help even more people than he normally does each week, Chef Bruno and a small staff of volunteers continue to prepare and pack thousands of meals in to-go containers so people can drive up and receive them at various drive-up locations. In helping to feed kids and their families during this pandemic, they are providing double, and sometimes triple what they do in a normal week just in a single day.
Not only are they providing hot meals every single night, (and for those who will inevitably complain that 'just pasta' is bad, it's not 'just pasta' but balanced meals including protein & vegetables) but they are also providing "pantry packs" for these families consisting of pasta, sauce, bread, flour and more for these families.
Because of this, he is going through the #KFIPastaThon donations faster than normal, and could use some extra help. If you can help by giving a small donation, please CLICK HERE.
Just look at how many meals they've served in the last few weeks.
CBS News' Steve Hartman recently interviewed Chef Bruno about what he's doing now, and during the interview, Chef Bruno said because it's a real possibility that restaurant could close permanently.
But, Chef Bruno says if he has to choose between the restaurant and Caterina's Club, he will absolutely chose Caterina's Club.