Cooking for a cause

Saturday, December 17th 2005, 5:24 pm

By: News On 6

An Oklahoma non-profit organization makes sure dozens of elderly citizens have hot meals at least once a day. But the group itself is in a little financial trouble, so a few stars from "the Food Network" stopped by to share their "love of food" and raise money to feed those who can't do for themselves.

News on 6 reporter Ashli Sims went to Cleveland, Oklahoma for the show.

Take one kitchen stage, add a splash of bright lights, a couple of cameras and top it all off with three celebrity chefs and you have a recipe for a show worthy of the food network.
But on this food show they're cooking for a cause, the Cleveland Portable Meals Program.

Linda Findley, Organizer: "its a vital program in our community it helps a lot of elderly and shut-ins for some of them its their only meal a day and unfortunately its struggling each and every month."

Linda Findley, a Cleveland native and local businesswoman, contacted The Food Network and organized this show to raise money for the program. For a small fee the audience was treated to cooking tips and tastings courtesy of celebrity chefs like canjun cooking comedian Scott Landry.

Scott Landry, Chef: "well i gotta call from Linda and she said would you come help us to raise funds for Cleveland, make people aware of what's going on. What I didnt tell her was that I was feeding a thousand people a day for the hurricane rita evacuation and I needed a vacation.

Landry whipped up a little crawfish etoufee and a chocolate dessert to the delight of the crowd.

Steve Brooks: "great, very nice show.

Kay Powell: "its good, very good. Its a good cause I've helped deliver food before and its really a great reason to come and enjoy the show."

Thanks to their support and these tasty tidbits dozens of Cleveland's elderly might be able to warm up with hot meals throughout the winter.

The Cleveland Portable Meals program provides meals once a day, five days a week for folks in the area and anywhere from 55 to 150 meals per week. For some customers its their only meal for the day.