Hunger and Hope - feeding the hungry in the east bay

On Thursday, November 12, 2020, East Bay Community Action Program (EBCAP) will hold Hunger and Hope, an online cooking class fundraiser to benefit its three food pantries (located in East Providence, Newport and Tiverton). The Hunger and Hope fundraiser will be the official kick-off to this year's Annual Fund campaign at EBCAP, also benefitting the agency's food pantries. Hunger and Hope will be streamed live via Zoom from the kitchens of Hope and Main in Warren, RI. Participants may choose to cook along with chefs Mary Wise Hughes of Savory Fare, Inc.and Haley Pollock, of The Holistic Trick. Tickets are available on Eventbrite (https://bit.ly/2HBoXkL).

While most of EBCAP’s food pantries’ budget is based on grant awards, community support in the form of food drives, food donations, and community-based fundraisers plays a critical role in keeping all three pantries’ shelves well-stocked year-round. Restrictions due to COVID-19 have caused the cancellation of most community events/ food drives. Anticipating an increase in the need for emergency food this winter, EBCAP leadership therefore decided to focus the agency’s annual campaign on its food pantries.

Currently in Rhode Island, 11 percent of households lack enough food to meet basic nutritional needs; 1 in 8 adults and 1 in 6 children go hungry every day in Rhode Island.

The Hunger and Hope fundraiser was made possible thanks to the support of Hope and Main in Warren, RI, an organization with a mission of helping local entrepreneurs jump-start early-stage food companies and food related businesses by providing low cost, low risk access to shared-use commercial kitchens and other industry-specific technical resources. The event’s chefs, Hughes and Pollock, each started their prepared meal delivery companies at Hope and Main.

Hughes described the entrée for the cooking class: “participants will learn how to prepare a simple and scrumptious dinner that echoes elegant Indian cuisine - Chicken Roasted with Sour Cream, Lemon Juice and Mango Chutney with accompanying dishes of beautiful Mango Couscous and tasty Gujerati-Style Green Beans. . .special enough for company, but easy enough to become a favorite family meal.” Pollock will teach participants how to prepare dessert - a spiced up version of a fall classic, a Chai Apple Crumb Gallette, complete with a from-scratch pie dough.

Adding to the interactive cooking class experience will be several chances for participants to win door prize drawings of culinary finds and more. For information, please contact Event Coordinator, Maggie Laurianno, at 401-259-2526.

East Bay Community Action Program is a private, non-profit 501 (c) (3) corporation that provides a wide array of health and human services to the residents of Rhode Island’s East Bay, including the municipalities of East Providence, Barrington, Warren, Bristol, Little Compton, Tiverton, Portsmouth, Middletown, Newport, and Jamestown. For more information regarding services and to learn how you too can support the CAP which supports the East Bay Community, please visit ebcap.org