17 Oct Inaugural Taste of the NFL – Los Angeles Rams Event

I have never been a big sports fan so I have never had a loyalty to a team. Sure, as a child, I was a big fan of the Dodgers, specifically Steve Garvey, and slept in my number 6 t-shirt every night. But when I went to college at UC Santa Barbara, we voted off our football team my freshman year in lieu of raising tuition. Then, when I returned to Los Angeles after college, we lost the LA Rams. Since 1994, Los Angeles did not have a national football team and I really did not care. But this year, the LA Rams returned to Los Angeles and there is something special about that. A city like Los Angeles should have a football team and it is nice to have the team return that I grew up with. With their first season underway, most of the players came out recently for the Inaugural Taste of the NFL – Los Angeles Rams event at the Globe Theater at Universal Studios Hollywood. Taste of the NFL is a national organization where the country’s top chefs and the NFL’s greatest players raise money in support of food banks across the United States. Taste of the NFL – Los Angeles Rams event was hosted by the Los Angeles Rams and the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.With one in seven people in Los Angeles County experiencing food insecurity, the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank is fighting to end hunger in our community. Since 1973, they have been sourcing food and other products and distributing them to needy people through charitable agencies or directly through programs and have distributed more than 1 billion pounds of food.  What a perfect first event for LA’s new team to host! Along with the players, Los Angeles chefs Josiah Citrin (Charcoal, Melisse), Tony Esnault ( Church & State, Spring), Susan Feniger (Border Grill, Mud Hen Tavern), Neal Fraser (Redbird), Ray Garcia (Broken Spanish), Duff Goldman (Charm City Cakes), Dave Histed (Pavilions), Bruce Kalman (Union), Jessica Largey (Simone), Mary Sue Milliken (Border Grill), Steve Samson (Sotto), Travis Strickland (Baltaire) and Benjamin Udave (Sysco) came out to raise money to benefit the Food Bank. It is wonderful to have a team in our city that within a few months of being in Los Angeles is already giving back to the community. This is a team with heart! We were welcomed to the event by the LA Rams cheerleaders and Rampage, the Ram’s mascot. Inside, the chefs were serving up tasting bites. I picked up a white Rams football at the event for my 3-year-old nephew. And, as we wandered around the event, we got signatures from all of the players in attendance, beginning with Les Snead, General Manager of the Rams. The players, who are in the middle of their season, were friendly and happily obliged as we took selfies with each of them. I have never taken so many selfies in my life, but when these might be future champions, why not?!?! We were on top of our game that night and got a signature and photo with every player. I think I am a pretty cool aunt for the present that I got my nephew who will now grow up with a local football team. And even better that it was all for a good cause – raising money for the Food Bank!