Lost Kitchen, Waldo County Bounty effort nets $325,000 in donations

A joint effort by Waldo County Bounty and The Lost Kitchen raised more than $325,000 to help provide much-needed access to locally grown foods for people experiencing food insecurity in Waldo County.

Waldo County Bounty is a grassroots hunger-relief initiative established at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Lost Kitchen is a restaurant in Freedom, owned and operated by James Beard nominated-Chef Erin French, that has been described as one of the “hardest-to-book restaurants in America.”

The partnership, launched May 18, offered customers access a week early to The Lost Kitchen reservation system in exchange for a small donation. On May 24, the restaurant began drawing postcards and subsequently opened its reservation system to everyone.

Diners can still make donations to Waldo County Bounty as part of the process by visiting waldocountybounty.me/tlk-2021-reservations. Note that donations do not guarantee a reservation.