Charlotte Teachers Win Free Meals For Entire School Year

CHARLOTTE, NC — Two Charlotte-area teachers are winners of a free meal delivery service for the entire school year, thanks to a recent nation-wide contest.

San Francisco-based Sun Basket, a meal-delivery service, recently launched a Treat Your Teacher campaign that will gift 10 exceptional educators free Sun Basket meals for the 2019-20 school year to thank them for their dedication. Nominations for the teachers required a short blurb on what makes them exceptional in 250 words or less.

Two of the teachers selected are in Charlotte: 10th grade English teacher Laura Hayner, who teaches at Myers Park High School, and her husband, Alex Hayner, who teaches 12th grade English at Mallard Creek High School.

"At Sun Basket, many of us are parents, so we know that teachers are the foundation of our communities," said Adam Zbar, CEO and co-founder of the company, started in 2014, that sells kits of mail-order, pre-measured organic produce, ingredients and recipes. "Teachers do so much to guide and shape children's minds, and we are passionate about giving back to them by offering a way to make their lives both easier and healthier."

The 10 lucky superstar instructors will receive —gratis — from Sun Basket three meals per week for the school year, starting Sept. 23 and ending June 1, with ingredients and recipes for such menus as spicy chipotle-rubbed steaks with vegetable skewers and "creamy" slaw, salmon with green beans, mint chutney and artichoke-almond salsa, and salt-and-pepper tofu stir-fry with glass noodles. Options include personalized meal plans with vegan, paleo, pescatarian, carb-conscious and other selections.

The prize of three weekly recipes for two-person servings translates to a value of nearly $72 per week, according to Sun Basket.

Other teachers recognized as contest winners were from Savannah, Georgia; San Jose, California; Largo, Florida; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Logan, Utha; Sacramento, California; Aurora, Colorado; Reading, Pennsylvania and Middlebury, Indiana.

SEE CONTEST INFORMATION HERE.

Winners were announced Sept. 14 on social media.

Sun Basket began in San Francisco by Webby-winner Zbar and chef Justine Kelly, former head chef at Slanted Door, a James Beard Award-winning restaurant. The company's mission is to bring curated meals to people's homes, serving up breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack selections See more on the company here.

Patch Editor Susan C. Schena contributed