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PHOTO: Celebrity chefs and their assistants at Spectrum Generations Celebrity Chef Challenge. (Submitted photo)
AUGUSTA — Three local chefs went head-to-head Sept. 19, competing in Spectrum Generations’ 10th annual Celebrity Chef Challenge fundraiser, with a record $30,000-plus raised.
The money supports Spectrum Generations’ Meals on Wheels program.
Edward McGregor, of The Front Room, in Portland, won the Judge’s Choice Award and Shaun Killeen, of White Duck Brew Pub, in Winthrop, won the People’s Choice Award. The third chef, Ben Ramsdell, culinary coordinator and chef educator at MaineGeneral’s Peter Alfond Prevention and Healthy Living Center in Augusta, also created an inspiring dish that did not disappoint.
McGregor’s winning dish, beef tips with squash puree, red flannel hash, seared watermelon steaks and jalapeño pepper sauce, will be incorporated into Spectrum Generations’ Meals on Wheels program.
Beef tips and watermelon were required ingredients for each dish, and the chefs were required to follow Meals on Wheels standards and nutrition guidelines. Some 125 guests attended the fundraiser, helping to raise more than $30,000 –an event record. The paddle auctions were responsible for $12,250 of the money raised, and many donors also chipped in.
Lindsay MacDonald, community engagement director, said, “These funds will have a direct and immediate positive impact for older adults and adults with disabilities that are homebound and facing food insecurity. Incredibly, almost $10,000 worth of in-kind support was also donated by way of food, silent auction items and other goods and services. We couldn’t do our important work without this caring community of supporters.”
The team at Spectrum Generations thanks everyone who made this event possible and successful this year including its staff, volunteers ,and community members, as well as special guest MC Connor Clement of MaineLife Media and sports reporter for ESPN. Judges were Heidi Parent, previous contestant on Hell’s Kitchen and CATC Culinary Arts instructor; Monica Castellanos, owner of Maine Local Market in Hallowell; and Ehrin Simanski, owner of Lisa’s Legit Burritos in Gardiner and Augusta. Celebrity servers included Matt and Lizzy from 92 Moose, Cindy Stevens, of the Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce, and Shawn Forkey, kitchen manager for the Alfond Youth and Community Center.
All proceeds will support Spectrum Generations’ programs and services, including Meals on Wheels, which prepares and delivers approximately 6,910 meals a week to 1,382 homebound older adults and adults with disabilities in communities throughout Kennebec, Knox, Lincoln, Sagadahoc, Somerset, and Waldo counties, and the towns of Brunswick and Harpswell in Cumberland County.
