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When Pink joined in the celebration for the end of Chef’s Cycle last year, a bicycle ride to raise money for No Kid Hungry, the energy and excitement inspired her to declare she would participate in the race next time.
The only problem? It’s a 300-mile race over three days — a daunting distance to even experienced bikers. But, as Pink shared with us over the phone, she is a woman of her word — and so she and her husband, Carey Hart, committed to do 100 miles of 2017 Chef’s Cycle Ride, having already raised over $59,000 to end childhood hunger in America.
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Taking action for causes she believes in isn’t new for Pink. She first marched on Washington with her family as a child. Or, to be more accurate, she says she was “shouldered” through Washington, since she was only 3 at the time.
Her involvement with No Kid Hungry started a few years ago; she says she really connected with the organization’s mission from the start. Its founder, Billy Shore, explained to her that childhood hunger is completely solvable.
“I really like that idea, especially as a Virgo, and as a mom,” she tells us. It’s also a mission she’s shared with her 5-year-0ld daughter, Willow, continuing the family tradition of passing on a passion for activism to the next generation.
“I think its important to help them find their identity and find what they believe in, and to know they can make a difference,” she says about her children (her youngest, Jameson, was born late last year, but attended the Women’s March at just three weeks old). That also means that she was open with Willow when she asked, a few years ago, why mom was leaving to go to her first event for No Kid Hungry.
When she explained to her daughter that there are a “lot of hungry kids out there” whom she wanted to help get fed, she remembers that Willow took the broccoli off her plate, wrapped it in her napkin and said, “You can take this to them.”
But nights when her family isn’t all together at one table are the exception. “We’re big on family meals,” Pink says, and that often means getting everyone — including Willow — involved. Not that Willow needs to be asked twice to pitch in. Having grown up on the road, she was helping out Pink's tour chef at just 2 years old. Today, she knows she has to try everything on her plate at least once — but the young cook has plenty of role models in the kitchen, all under the age of 18. Just like us, Willow is a big fan of Master Chef Junior — and Pink even says she’s beginning to compare her own baking to the creations that the pint-sized chefs, often just a few years older than her, are capable of creating.
“We like a messy kitchen in this house,” Pink shares. The fun around cooking and family dinner is part of what makes it such an easy tradition to maintain. “We’re big on manners, but it doesn’t need to be that serious.”