Kate returns: Reality TV mom makes appearance for screening of Second Harvest episode: JohnsonCityPress.com
After filming segments of the episode around the region in March, Gosselin made a return trip to the area Monday in order to take part in the fundraiser screening, which benefitted the food bank. Filming of the hour-long episode was done at the food bank in Gray, at the Salvation Army Center of Hope in Johnson City, highlights include footage of Gosselin and her eight children at work at the food bank, on the serving line at the Salvation Army kitchen, delivering take-home food packs for children in need at North Side and taking a tour of the famous Bristol race track.
“This actually was such a great experience when I was here with my kids for our show ‘Kate Plus 8,’ and I left thinking, ‘What else could I do?’ ” Gosselin said before sitting down to watch the episode with local fans.
When Rhonda Chafin, executive director of the local food bank, told Gosselin they were going to host a special fundraiser screening of the episode, Gosselin said she knew she had to be a part of it. It was only a matter of making sure it fit into her busy schedule. “I needed to be here, because this area needs so much help and the fact that there’s hunger in our country is upsetting to me. I mean, I just left here the first time thinking, ‘I cannot imagine not being able to feed my eight kids.’ It’s too much. That is such a primary, elementary need,” she said.
Gosselin said it was a shock to learn about the hunger needs in the country, because when thinking about hunger needs, one often imagines needs in third world countries rather than in their own backyard.
“I wish I could do a lot more of this. If you can’t come and can’t do this, you can donate to your local food bank, go help make a meal in a soup kitchen,” she said. “It is really just that easy and we left here and I said to my kids, ‘Oh, this is just the beginning for you.’ We had a great time. It’s surprising where you can find fun.”The local food bank was chosen out of more than 200 food banks for the show because of the high concentration of need for food in the eight-county region. Chafin said having Second Harvest of Northeast Tennessee in the episode was “huge” in promoting awareness about hunger needs in the area.
“We’re real excited about that, because Feeding America, our national organization, could’ve selected any food bank in the nation and they selected Northeast Tennessee simply because this food bank and this community is very aggressive in hunger action and making sure that we do everything that we possibly can to feed more people,” she said. Fittingly, Monday’s special screening at the fairgrounds coincided with the kickoff for the 25th anniversary of Second Harvest’s work in the area. “We started off distributing that first year 60,000 pounds of food and now we distribute over 8 million pounds a year, so we’re real excited about the opportunities that we’ve had to help feed people, but we know that our work is not done."
"Kate was seen taking a tray of cupcakes out to the people waiting in line — the boutique shop is famously known for having lines that wrap around the block" It sounds like they all had a fun time being in the bakery - and probably eating a few sweet treats of their own! It's very possible that Kate, Mady, and Cara were able to bake and decorate their own cupcakes, because sources say that there were cameras in tow... an upcoming episode of Kate Plus 8? Most likely! They are so fortunate to have all of these amazing opportunities and to go on incredible trips. Cupcakes is just the bottom of the barrel, really.