Hospitality businesses across the country hosted the nation’s biggest dinner party on Monday 20th March, raising $370k in support of those impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle.
Masterminded by Al Brown and supported by the Restaurant Association, 157 businesses across the country took part, with 6600 diners purchasing tickets.
Restaurants from Northland to Stewart Island cooked up a two-course menu with proceeds going directly to those impacted by the cyclone. 35 percent of the proceeds will also go directly to hospitality communities impacted by the recent weather events.
Celebrity chef and organiser, Al Brown said that the fundraising effort was an accumulation of help from many people.
“I couldn’t be more stoked with how Cooking Up A Storm came together. It just started to snowball, driven solely by goodwill, compassion and charity. It made me realise that when adversity and pain appear out of nowhere, balancing that out and riding shotgun will always be empathy and generosity,” said Brown.
Restaurant Association CEO, Marisa Bidois expressed that the stories both from our hospitality whanau and people in the affected areas have been devastating.
“Hospitality is what we do best so being able to support those that have been impacted by hosting people in our venues was the perfect way for us to give back,” said Bidois.
“We’re so proud of the way our communities came together and look forward to handing the funds over to those that desperately need them.”
