Saturday Night Foodies To Host Special Celebrity Edition OC DinDin-A-GoGo Gourmet Food Truck Event For ‘Drive Out Hunger’
Celebrities Supporting Mobile Food Drive Include Cast Members of Twilight Saga
IRVINE, Calif., Nov. 9, 2010 – Saturday Night Foodies, a popular food and restaurant review blog, in conjunction with 19 gourmet food trucks and other leading food bloggers, will host a special food truck event Wednesday, Nov. 17, from 4:30 to 9:30 p.m., in the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater parking lot (8808 Irvine Center Drive, Irvine, CA). The tailgating-type event is designed to add momentum to the ongoing two week mobile food drive taking place through Nov. 20, for Drive Out Hunger, the county’s first mobile food drive, benefiting Second Harvest Food Bank. The special Drive Out Hunger event will leverage OC DinDin-A-GoGo, a weekly gourmet food truck event managed by the Tropical Shave Ice Truck, that usually rotates eight different gourmet food trucks each week, but this time will have 19 trucks in its lineup. Attendees are encouraged to bring folding tables, chairs and blankets.
Celebrities helping to bring awareness to the hunger crisis in Orange County will be on hand to take pictures and sign autographs for a donation of 10 non-perishable canned or dry good items, per person. There will also be a silent auction, and participants will have the opportunity to bid on Lakers and Lady Gaga tickets, vacations, and autographed art, to name just a few. Event admission and parking are free.
Celebrities* participating in the special Drive Out Hunger OC DinDin-A-GoGo event at press time are:
Ashley Argota (Nickelodeon's True Jackson VP)
Rachael Bell (Disney’s Suite Life on Deck)
Doug Brochu (Sonny with A Chance)
Taylor Dayne (Singer)
John and Steven French (Disney's Suite Life: 2 for the Road)
Shar Jackson (Moesha, Celebrity Fit Club)
Savannah Jayde (Big Time Rush)
Ashley Jones (True Blood, Bold and Beautiful)
James Kyson Lee (Heroes)
Corey Miller (LA Ink)
Bronson Pelletier (Twilight Saga)
Raini Rodriguez (Paul Blart Mall Cop, Disney's Prom)
Rico Rodriguez (Modern Family)
Gretchen Christine Rossi (Real Housewives of Orange County)
BooBoo Stewart (Twilight Saga)
Fivel Stewart (Guardians of Luna)
Kaycee Stroh (High School Musical 1, 2 & 3)
Jessica Sutta (Pussycat Dolls)
*Celebrities subject to change without notice. Visit www.saturdaynightfoodies.com for latest lineup.
“From the outside, Orange County appears to be a privileged community and yet according to the Second Harvest Food Bank, approximately 615,000 Orange County residents are at risk of going hungry each month,” said Jason Iehl, founder of Saturday Night Foodies. “With the respective fans of the participating celebrities, and followers of the gourmet food trucks and food bloggers, we have the power to bring awareness to the hunger problem taking place in our own backyard and really make a difference. We felt holding a food drive would be a great way to rally the foodie community to give to those less fortunate.”
Because the economy has been slow to rebound, donations have been low this year. In turn, the Second Harvest member agencies are reporting an average 35 percent increase in demand for food assistance. The goal of the Drive Out Hunger mobile food drive is to collect 1,000 pounds of food for the Second Harvest Food Bank. Gourmet food truck followers and food enthusiasts are encouraged to bring non-perishable canned or dry food donations when they go to their favorite gourmet food trucks or food truck events during the two week food drive.
The donations that are needed most are:
Non-perishable canned goods or dry food**:
- Canned meats, fish, soup, fruits, vegetables
- Pasta
- Hot and cold cereal
- Macaroni and cheese
- Rice
- Beans
- Peanut butter
Personal care items:
- Diapers
- Toothpaste and toothbrushes
- Toilet paper
- Soap
** Please no glass containers or expired items.
The following gourmet food trucks will be at the event to accept donations: Bakery Truck, Barcelona on the Go, CalbiBBQ, Chomp Chomp Truck, ChunknChip, Crepes Bonaparte, DanDanBBQ, Dos Chinos, Lee’s Philly, Lomo Arigato, Louks, Oh For Sweets Sake, Piaggio on Wheels, Seabirds, Shortstop BBQ, The Burnt Truck, The Greasy Wiener, The Lime Truck, and Tropical Shave Ice.
For food enthusiasts that are not located in Orange County, but want to contribute, a virtual food drive has been established online so they can participate regardless of where they are located. Please visit www.saturdaynightfoodies.com and click on the Drive Out Hunger icon to make a monetary contribution. Participating bloggers helping with the virtual drive are: The Cupcake Activist, Diary of a Mad Hungry Woman, Gourmet Food Truck, Marian the Foodie, Just Spotted, Save the Food Trucks and Savored.
For more information about the event, please visit www.saturdaynightfoodies.com
About Drive Out Hunger Mobile Food Drive
Drive Out Hunger is a mobile food drive collaboration between Saturday Night Foodies, local gourmet food trucks and food bloggers to combat hunger in our communities.
About Saturday Night Foodies
Jason Iehl and Kim Nelson, editors of SaturdayNightFoodies.com, are the consummate foodies. The husband and wife duo combine their passion for food, cooking and travel, with the need to tell the world about their crazy food adventures. They have even been known to plan entire vacations around food or take off on a “Saturday Night”, tempted by something they just saw on the Food Network or Cooking Channel. In addition to publishing restaurant and gourmet food truck reviews from their travels and keeping readers apprised of the latest food trends, Jason, a former chef, chronicles his culinary delights on the website’s “Test Kitchen”.
About Second Harvest Food Bank Orange County
Since 1983, Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County has provided more than 265 million pounds of safe and nutritious surplus food to now over 450 charitable non-profit organizations throughout Orange County. The Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County is a certified Affiliate Member of Feeding America. For more information about Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County or to learn how to help, visit www.feedoc.org.
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