BlackFive

There are many things going on in the world, in particular Haiti.  I've suggested before that your money should go to rescue and such there, and there is no better place or way than Team Rubicon.  For our more highly placed readers, please check this out and do what you can to help such that it does not become a major media story... Know also that even though things are incredibly tight, I've donated to them -- most of us here rarely ask you to donate to something we have not donated to ourselves.

That said, Cooking with the Wounded still needs your help as well.  The local response to the Yellow Bowl Bakery trip is amazing.  An almost full page story in the local paper, a follow-up, and much more.  We have been contacted by a well-known chef who is interested in taking part, which means being willing to drop all their normal operations and taking a week to cook with the troops if things work out.  Some new ideas have come up in regards giving a helping hand to the wounded and other vets who want to move into the food and beverage field. 

To do them all requires two things, and they are both things you can help with: 

1.  Publicity.  We need to get the word out in local and national (heck, international even) media.  The more people that contact a given outlet or pundit, the better the chance of coverage.  While time-on-target is great, it's not necessary.  Just keep hammering at them. Coverage helps us not just with fundraising, but with securing participants for the full-range of the program and with corporate sponsors.  It is impossible to overstate how much we need good publicity for this effort, and how much we need your help to get that.

2.  Money.  Ingredients are one big expense, but not the only one.  We are asking chefs to stop their lives for at least a week to go do this, and the response is heartening.  However, if you think that chefs are rolling in money (as opposed to dough, we're not going to discuss those rumors about Bourdain here) you've also obviously never spent a lot of time in and around the restaurant/food biz.  It would be nice to at least give them a token honorarium.  It would be nice if we could do a number of other things, as part of the hand-up process for the wounded. 

So, I am asking for both and knowing that the latter is difficult right now. Because things are so difficult for so many right now, the contest to win the autographed picture of Phyllis Diller (see this post for details), is going to change.  Knowing that some of you can only do one thing a month, and having also been contacted with some dismay about donations already being made for the month, the photo contest is hereby extended.  Instead of closing next Tuesday, it will run through 9 February.  The largest individual and corporate contributions to Cooking with the Wounded by close-of-business 9 February will win the photos. 

Cooking with the Wounded is a group on Facebook as well as a Cause.  Please join in.  Please spread the word.  Please do what you can to help us do for the troops. 

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