On Thursday, the Westside Food Bank hosts its second Rock for Hunger event at The Viper Room in West Hollywood, an entertainment smorgasbord featuring pieces of rock music history and two of the area’s premiere magicians. The food bank, which serves approximately four million nutritious meals to underserved populations each year, is teaming with the locale in the summertime, a "less hectic time" than last November’s event.
"We’re really thrilled [that] The Viper Room has just been an incredible partner, they’ve been so generous with us, giving us the venue for free and the parking lot, and it’s just been a really wonderful experience to work with them," Westside Food Bank President and CEO Genevieve Riutort said.
The partnership began via the Westside staff, as Viper Room General Manager Tommy Black is the husband of food bank Executive Assistant Marshelle Fair. Black not only paved the way for the event, but brought some connections along with it, namely 80s cover band Wayward Sons and the night’s master of ceremonies, former MTV personality and 95.5 KLOS’ Matt Pinfield.
Riutort said that Wayward Sons "gave it 100%" at last November’s Rock for Hunger, playing 80s hits for 90 minutes in wigs, spandex and "full 80s regalia." She added that Pinfield, a decades-long music industry veteran, will be holding a live auction for a guitar signed by Guns N’ Roses shredder Slash.
Along with the live auction, an exclusive raffle will take place with more rock history in tow. Prizes up for grabs include a drumhead signed by the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith and a photo of late Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland with an inscription by widow Jamie Weiland. Other prizes range from nights at the Viper Room and the Magic Castle to a one-of-a-kind self-portrait drawn by three-time Emmy award-winning animation director and artist Wes Archer.
The Magic Castle will be well-represented during the evening, thanks to another food bank connection. One of the food bank’s advisory board members is cousins with Cassandra and Ben Nemzer, regulars in Hollywood’s magician paradise who will be performing on stage as well as doing "mingle magic" with attendees before the show.
"I’ve had to rethink what I believe in terms of the laws of physics after watching them perform," Riutort said.
While not a Santa Monica event, the Westside event was crafted to make everyone in the Los Angeles area aware of the organization’s scope, as the food bank serves one-tenth of the county. The entertainment soiree was also made to re-think what’s possible as far as nonprofit events, swapping the stuffy gala setting for good-natured heavy metal mayhem.
"We are trying to build the pipeline of the next generation of donors, board members, volunteers and other supporters, and we also want to get the message out that supporting nonprofit social service agencies can be fun, it doesn’t have to be boring … you [can] go out to a really fun concert and magic show and have an amazing night with your friends," Riutort said.
A food drive will be set up at the venue, but the main goal of the night is to help kids survive a summer where they may be bereft of meals. Westside’s Summer Children’s Nutrition program provides easy-to-make foods like cereal, granola bars, microwavable mac and cheese, fruits and vegetables; making up for the meals they would typically get during the school year. Donations of $35 to the food bank provide 27 breakfasts and lunches for one child.
"There’s a lot of kids who get most of their nutrition at school, they get breakfast and lunch and for a lot of kids, that’s the most substantial meal that they get every day," Riutort said. "So when school is out over the summer, it’s really concerning for a lot of families to try to make up those meals when they are barely getting by. Our [program] addresses that [by packing] very special boxes with kid-friendly foods, things that are fairly easy to prepare."
Thursday’s Rock for Hunger event begins at 7pm, with tickets going for $50. To purchase, visit wsfb.org.
