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NFL Draft includes food fundraiser to feed kids

The National Football League draft starts Thursday in Green Bay, Wisconsin and the Taste of the Draft is one of the pre-draft events that helps feed children.

GENYOUth is a nonprofit organization that works to equip schools and help provide students with better access to nutrition and physical activity.  CEO Ann Marie Krautheim tells Brownfield their Taste of the Draft fundraiser brought twenty Wisconsin supper club chefs, former NFL players, and fans together for food, football, and philanthropy. “Schools will receive grants as a result of this effort. It will help to nourish children, help end student hunger, and help give them opportunities to be physically active.”

And the money is going to 90 Wisconsin school districts. “We have netted well over half a million dollars. We’re giving grab-and-go school breakfast equipment so it literally rolls the healthy school meal including fruits and whole grains and lean protein and dairy right to where the kids are getting off the school bus. They can literally grab and go.”

Chef Mark Bucher says fundraisers like this are important, especially now. “A lot of federal programs that support families and students with nutritional support, SNAP benefits, school lunch programs, are seeing some deep cuts and the folks at GENYOUth who put this amazing event on, as well as Taste of the NFL, work really hard in making sure that no student is going to leave school hungry.”

Along with food and beverage samples, Taste of the Draft also featured a silent auction and live music.

GenYOUth and the NFL also have a similar event before the Super Bowl every year.

The NFL Draft is hosted by a different team each April, and begins Thursday in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

AUDIO: Ann Marie Krautheim discusses GENYOUth and the Taste of the Draft fundraiser with Brownfield’s Larry Lee

AUDIO: Chef Mark Bucher discusses the importance of the GENYOUth fundraiser, and also offers some advice for aspiring restauranteurs with Brownfield’s Larry Lee.

AUDIO: Chef Steven Ross with Tyson Foods talks with Brownfield’s Larry Lee about a new sausage product consumers will find in stores May 1st during Taste of the Draft in Green Bay