Wed, Sep 20th 2017 07:15 pm

Charity dinner features chefs Jeremy Fox, Jessica Koslow, Walter & Margarita Manzke, Zoe Nathan, Bryant Ng; 100% of proceeds benefitting Program for Torture Victims

Vicky Cornell is accepting the award on behalf of her late husband, a Grammy Award-winning and Golden Globe-nominated singer, songwriter, guitarist and composer.

LACHR is a human rights fundraising campaign to support PTV, which is the first rehabilitation program in the U.S. dedicated to treating torture survivors. The event unites the city's most celebrated chefs and bakers to cook a multicourse dinner, with 100 percent of the proceeds benefitting PTV, which heals and rebuilds the lives of torture survivors from over 70 countries. Led by chef Bryant Ng, this year's lineup includes Rustic Canyon's Jeremy Fox, Sqirl's Jessica Koslow, Republique's Walter and Margarita Manzke, and Rustic Canyon Family of Restaurants co-owner and head baker Zoe Nathan.

"Last fall, LA Chefs for Human Rights raised $105,000 for our programs, helping our clients with psychological counseling, outpatient health care, legal support, advocacy and so much more," said Trip Oldfield, Program for Torture Victims' executive director. "There are roughly 1.3 million torture survivors living in the United States, and this issue is closer to home than many of us think, with around 44 percent of refugees in the Los Angeles region having suffered from human rights abuses."

"We're deeply honored to celebrate the life-changing work Vicky and Chris have accomplished, and which she continues to carry on," said Kim Luu-Ng, a longtime human rights advocate, lawyer and PTV board of directors member. "Their support of and dedication to Syrian refugee children languishing in refugee camps raises awareness for this ongoing, six-year crisis and provides hope to so many who have lost it."

Chris Cornell wrote and recorded "The Promise," a ballad for the 2016 film of the same name, which stars Oscar Isaac, Christian Bale and Charlotte Le Bon, and depicts the Armenian genocide. The song's lyrics are now embraced by human rights and refugee aid groups as a clarion call to people who care about the plight of refugees and victims of war. In April, Vicky and Chris visited the Eleonas refugee camp in Greece, where they met with refugee children and their families to hear first-hand about their escape and suffering.

The evening's honorary guest speaker is Evgeny Afineevsky, the Oscar-nominated filmmaker behind the HBO documentary "Cries From Syria," which examines the Syrian Civil War, and how the ensuing violence and humanitarian crisis have ravaged the lives of the civilian victims of the war, particularly women and children. The evening will also feature PTV clients who will share their stories of survival and healing, as well as a live musical performance by singer/songwriter Tiffany Brevard.

This year's sponsors for LA Chefs for Human Rights enable all event proceeds to go directly to PTV.