Many Eastside residents know Tom Colicchio from Bravo’s TV show “Top Chef.” Most don’t know how far his passion for ending hunger in the United States extends.

Colicchio was scheduled to be the main speaker during Hopelink’s Reaching Out Luncheon Monday at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue to raise money for the nonprofit that seeks to end hunger and homelessness on the Eastside.

But not even an emergency back surgery could prevent Colicchio from lending his voice to the cause.

“I have been active for years in the battle against hunger and I am not alone,” said Colicchio in an audio message from New York, while urging those in attendance to help Hopelink. “But it has grown worse.”

The event raised $1.16  million for Hopelink. The organization raised more than $1 million last year for the same event.

Colicchio told a story of an 11-year-old girl that he met in New York whose family was living off of chips, soda and ramen noodles, as it was all they could afford.

But he pointed out that hunger in the U.S. is not like what most people think of: starving or skinny children in Africa.

“Her and her siblings were overweight and they regularly had colds and infections,” said Colicchio. “Managing a problem isn’t solving it.”

With Colicchio not able to physically attend, Lisa Brummel, a co-owner of the Seattle Storm and Chief People Officer with Microsoft, stepped up to extend the message to the audience of 1,700.

Brummel, dressed in a chef’s coat, said that she was able to talk to Colicchio and while she wanted to ask questions about Top Chef, all he wanted to talk about was ending hunger.

“He is on a mission to stop hunger in America,” said Brummel. “We have a lot of things in common.”

She described three main areas that people need to focus on to end the problem. The first was educating others on how to farm and what goes into growing vegetables.

“When you see the look in a child’s eye when they put a seed in the ground and then come back to see what they have grown it is amazing,” said Brummel.

The second issue is knowing what to eat.

“We are a highly industrious nation and we can produce a lot,” said Brummel. “But a lot of it is highly unhealthy.”

Brummel talked about educating people on what is healthy and what is not nutritious. The third part was spreading the message.

“Growing vegetables is not hard,” said Brummel. “You can grow some in a pot in your home.”

A video described Brummel’s part in the cause with Sunnyside Farm.

“It was created 17 years ago and started with a few (garden) beds and a wonderful piece of land to give back,” said Brummel. “Now we produce 1,000 pounds to donate to Hopelink.”

Hopelink is an intricate part of Sunnyside Farm, which is located in Sunnyside, Wash.

“It takes an organization like Hopelink to connect our organization to people who need it,” said Brummel.

She said that Colicchio wanted to leave a final message to “never give up, always give what you can and push legislators because that is what it will take.”

Hopelink CEO Marilyn Mason-Plunkett said the organization’s need just keeps growing.

“The reality of today’s world is that so many people are experiencing the economic slowdown,” said Mason-Plunkett.

And that need is outpacing Hopelink’s resources.

She referenced the fact that in 2010 Hopelink turned away 84 families per month and in 2011 the organization was turning away approximately 127 families a month.

“We are getting less funding from our cash-strapped public partners,” said Mason-Plunkett.

But some of the successes were also highlighted during the event, such as former Redmond resident Jonathan Dickenson, who was highlighted in one of the videos.

Dickenson told his story of being homeless as a child and living in a five-seat car with five other family members.

The sight of the apartment that his family lived in prior to becoming homeless was a stark reminder for the Hopelink board member.

“I saw the video for the first time this morning and I got choked up,” said Dickenson, whose family was helped out of its situation by the Hopelink organization.

For more information about Hopelink, visit www.hope-link.org or call 425-869-6000.