Our History

In 2008, Marc and business partner Jeff Benjamin created the Vetri Foundation For Children.

The VFFC began as an effort to support Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation™ (ALSF), which raises funds and awareness for pediatric cancer causes, cures and research. The annual Great Chefs Event was established in 2006 in Philadelphia when 8 local chefs and 100 guests raised $50,000. Just 7 years later, in 2012, a stellar cast of 43 international celebrity chefs and 1,200 guests raised over $1 million. Vetri and Benjamin's vision has inspired chefs around the country, with culinary fundraisers for ALSF now active in Los Angeles and New York.

Motivated by these results, Vetri and Benjamin decided to leverage their own expertise on food and nutrition for the benefit of children. They tackled the pressing issue of childhood obesity and poor nutrition through "Eatiquette," the Vetri Method for school lunch. Eatiquette transforms cafeteria lunch into a family-style learning experience that encourages healthy eating habits and fosters an appreciation for fresh, nutritious meals.

In the summer of 2010, ESF Dream Camp, a five-week day camp for at-risk children in Philadelphia adopted the Vetri Method under the direct guidance of Marc Vetri and Chef Jeff Michaud. While remaining within the federal guidelines for government subsidized school meals, Vetri and Michaud designed menus and prepared locally grown and freshly made lunches daily for more than 300 campers. The children were introduced to a variety of foods that were visually appealing and nutritionally sound. Campers also got the chance to spend time with the chefs learning about nutrition, investigating the ways their food gets from a garden or a farm to their plates and receiving tips on food preparation. A special emphasis was placed on social interaction and communication, which was done by conducting all meals in an interactive family style manner. Dream Campers have enjoyed the VFFC's Eatiquette program every summer since, and in 2012 the program expanded to include Dream Camp in Hartford, Connecticut, plus several schools in the Philadelphia area.

Through our support of this and other programs, the VFFC remains committed to our belief that children who have healthy bodies and healthy minds have the opportunity to create healthy lives for themselves.