Ten celebrities, ranging from Golden Globe winners to body acceptance advocates, designed utensils and kitchen linens for Williams Sonoma to raise awareness and money for hungry children in the United States.
The cookware, kitchen and home furnishings retailer annually partners with No Kid Hungry, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit, for its Tools for Change Campaign. Celebrities design limited-edition items that Williams Sonoma sells, and the store donates 30% of the proceeds from those sales to the nonprofit.
In 2023, almost 18% of U.S. households with children experienced food insecurity, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported. That means those families either didn’t know if they would be able to get enough food to feed everyone in the home, or they were unable to feed everyone in the family.
Of those 6.5 million food-insecure homes, 3.2 million had both children and adults experiencing inadequate food access. In the remainder, there was adequate food for children, but not enough for the adults to eat.
“The developing human brain requires all essential nutrients to form and to maintain its structure,” stated the abstract for a study of nutrition interventions on the cognitive development of young children. “Children who do not receive sufficient nutrition are at high risk of exhibiting impaired cognitive skills.”
Lack of adequate food could produce long-term effects, according to a report from Nemours’ Children’s Health, a national pediatric healthcare system. Those adverse outcomes include increased absorption of toxins, obesity, diabetes, stroke, depression, hyperactivity and poor academic performance.
Williams Sonoma’s leadership said the annual campaign means fewer children are at risk of those mental and medical illnesses. “Thanks to the support of our customers and the generosity of our partners, our Tools for Change annual campaign has raised millions of dollars to help feed children in need,” said Williams Sonoma President, Felix Carbullido. “For this year’s campaign, we remain steadfast in our commitment to support No Kid Hungry’s vital mission to ensure every child in America has access to three healthy meals a day.”
Each celebrity designed a spatula with artwork on one side and their signature printed on the other. Some have collections that include an oven mitt or pot holder. All items are on sale online and in stores while supplies last.
The list of celebrities and their designs includes:
- Golden Globe and Emmy Award winner and cooking show host Valerie Bertinelli, whose mini spatula duo features a black cat on a pale blue background and a white cat with a citrine green base
- Food Network show host and restaurateur Ayesha Curry’s caramel brown spatula with sketches of whole foods in pastel mint, yellow, pink and white
- Actress Zooey Deschanel’s pale pink utensil with two bows etched in red and one in fuchsia on a pale pink background. A pot holder and oven mitt are also available
- Brian Hart Hoffman, the editor in chief of “Bake From Scratch,” whose collection features an oven mitt, pot holder and spatula. Each showcases a white base with toffee-colored madeleine cookies, baguettes in a bag and croissants
- Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto, whose design features a white spatula with colorful photographs of sushi. The pattern is also available on an oven mitt and pot holder
- Singer and songwriter Bebe Rexha with an oven mitt, pot holder and white spatula featuring numerous breeds of dogs outlined in black with a lone pink heart in the middle
- Body acceptance advocate and author of “Sunny Side Up,” Katie Sturino, whose design is an homage to her book. The cornflower blue base of the spatula includes a cast iron skillet surrounded by sunny side up eggs and a woman in a blue bikini diving into the yolk of the sunny side up egg in the skillet
- Content creator and Lilyloutay founder Hannan Taylor, who popularized the phrase “measure with your heart,” designed a sage green utensil covered with white oven mitt sketches
- Private chef and content creator Olivia Tiedemann’s white spatula with koi etched in black
- Record producer and rapper Timbaland’s creation features a black base and red flames underneath a white microphone
“The annual Tools for Change initiative reflects the impact we can have when we come together to end childhood hunger,” said Billy Shore, founder and executive chair of Share Our Strength, the organization behind the No Kid Hungry campaign. “From Williams Sonoma’s leadership and its customers who have made these products staples in their kitchens, to the celebrity designers that support this cause each year, all have played a role in ensuring kids have access to the food they need and the future they deserve.”
