Geoffrey Zakarian to Host Thanksgiving ‘Foodathon’ Telethon on Fox Stations

Natalie Oganesyan
·2 min read
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Celebrity chef Geoffrey Zakarian will host a Thanksgiving-themed telethon on Fox-owned stations in major markets on Nov. 25 to raise money for food rescue organizations City Harvest and No Kid Hungry.

“The Great American Foodathon Presented by Citi” will feature performances by John Legend, Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban, JoJo and Dennis Quaid, as well as appearances by Drew Barrymore, Whoopi Goldberg, Guy Fieri, Tyra Banks, Katie Couric, Blake Shelton, Patti LaBelle and Kelly Ripa.

“This has been a challenging year for many Americans,” said Zakarian, a City Harvest board member and chair of its food council. “On the eve of Thanksgiving, let’s raise a lot of money to help feed the many families across our country that are struggling to put a meal on the table right now for their children. There will be laughs, maybe some tears, and a lot of Thanksgiving cooking tips along the way.”

City Harvest has helped feed more than 2.5 million New Yorkers who were struggling with food insecurity before and during the pandemic. No Kid Hungry is a national campaign to end childhood hunger in the U.S. through a combination of emergency grants, assistance, advocacy and awareness, helping connect the 1 in 4 kids in the country facing hunger to healthy food.

Celebrity chefs Rachael Ray, Buddy Valastro, Curtis Stone, Michael Symon, Wolfgang Puck, Ree Drummond, Anne Burrell, Katie Lee, Rocco DiSpirito, Alex Guarnaschelli, Marcus Samuelsson, Judy Joo, Donatella Arpaia and Andrew Zimmern will share favorite Thanksgiving recipes and cooking tips while guests Rosie Perez, Olivia Newton-John, Justin Long, Matt Bomer, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Denis Leary, Christie Brinkley, Henry Winkler, Lisa Rinna and Rosanna Scotto will reflect on the holiday and discuss the fight against hunger.

Anna Faris, Bryce Dallas Howard, Camilla Alves McConaughey, Jo Koy, Kal Penn, Lea Michele, Marlee Matlin, Padma Lakshmi, Vanessa Lachey, Yvette Nicole Brown and Zac Posen will also be featured in the show.

The special will air commercial-free in various time slots on Fox-owned stations in New York (7 p.m. on WNYW-TV), Los Angeles (4 p.m. on KCOP-TV), Chicago (6 p.m. on WPWR-TV) and other major markets across the country. “Foodathon” will also stream online at AmericanFoodathon.org. Presenting sponsor Citi will match donations up to $500,000.

“The Great American Foodathon” is executive produced by Zakarian, Jaret Keller, Margaret Zakarian and Tara Halper for Corner Table Entertainment. Eric Conte and Dan Weinreich exec producer for Content.23 Media.

(Pictured: Geoffrey Zakarian)

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