Menu of Hope 2026
Thank You for Joining Us!
Former White House Chef and special guest Sam Kass shared the stage with childcare providers, educators, state legislators, and corporate leaders at the 31st Annual Menu of Hope at the Hyatt Regency Ballroom on Thursday, March 5, 2026, helping to raise $527,000 for Children’s Hunger Alliance. Every dollar raised goes to support CHA’s programs that provide nutritious meals and food education to Ohio’s children right where they are, every day of the year.
At Menu of Hope, we celebrated our partners from around the state and were inspired by the impassioned appeal from Kass. Honorees also included corporate champion Mercy Health - St. Rita’s Medical Center and CHA’s legislative partners in the Ohio Statehouse, who have been instrumental in advancing children’s interests statewide.
Thank you to all our supporters who attended in person or online and generously donated to support our work in Ohio, where 1 in 5 children are living with food insecurity.
Together, we can break the cycle of childhood hunger in Ohio and nourish children’s bright futures!
Special guest Sam Kass is a former White House Chef and Senior White House Policy Advisor for Nutrition. Asked by President Obama in 2009 to serve as the First Family’s chef, a position he held for six years, Kass took on several other roles during his White House tenure, including executive director of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! campaign. He is the author of two books: Eat a Little Better: Great Flavor, Good Health, Better World and The Last Supper: How to Overcome the Coming Food Crisis.
Thank You to Our Patrons!
Presenting Patron
Media Partner
Platinum Patrons
Premier Plus Patron
Premier Patrons
Principal Patrons
31 Club Patrons
Partner Patrons
Advanced Civil Design, Inc.
American Electric Power
CareSource
CAS, a division of the American Chemical Society
CASTO
Columbia Gas - NiSource Charitable Foundation
Continental Building Co.
DLZ Corporation
EY
Ferguson
Huntington Bank
Ice Miller LLP
KPMG LLP
Nationwide Children's Hospital
The Ohio State University
Quantum Health
TSG Advice Partners
Vorys
Worthington Companies Foundation
Friend of CHA Patrons
Bob Evans Farms
Buckeye Community Hope Foundation
Cardinal Health
Columbus Metropolitan Library
Columbus State Community College
Deloitte LLP
First Commonwealth Bank
Leading EDJE
METTLER TOLEDO
The Middlefield Banking Company
OhioHealth
Revolution Group
Rudolph Foods
Stantec
Statehouse Impact Group
Werth PR
Zeiger, Tigges & Little LLP
Remote Patrons
BellStores
The Union Bank Company
In-Kind Patrons
