Brian Pham, Volunteer Coordinator, accepting food donation on stage

Joey Chestnut walking through the crowd

by Brian Pham

For the second year in a row, we were fortunate to benefit from Nathan's Annual Hot Dog Eating Contest and receive a large donation of hot dogs.

It couldn’t have been a more perfect day: it was July 4, the sun was out, there was not a cloud in sight, there was a massive crowd of 40,000 supporters and Joey Chestnut won for a fourth year in a row. While Joey did not beat the world record he set last year (68 hot dogs), he did beat second place by eating 11 more hot dogs for a total of 54 in 10 minutes!

I couldn’t have had a better time, and it was great for the Food Bank to have such a presence at this New York tradition – now in its 95th year! Thanks again to Nathan’s Famous and Major League of Eating for supporting the Food Bank.

Click here for more photos!

Check out our photos from the 2009 Contest!