Taste of Hope: A Chefs Competition is West Michigan’s most prestigious culinary event, supporting the American Cancer Society’s efforts to eliminate cancer. The American Cancer Society’s signature culinary, wine and spirits event, featuring some of West Michigan’s most popular restaurants and beverage vendors. While enjoying the best of West Michigan’s culinary scene, we raise our glasses to ending cancer as we know it. Every Cancer. Every Life.
Carter Pavey is a seasoned marketing leader currently partnering with Hoekstra Transportation as the company approaches its 100-year milestone, helping scale its brand and growth strategy. His life has been deeply shaped by cancer — after losing his first wife to the disease at age 31, Carter formed meaningful connections with others navigating similar journeys. It was through that path he met his current wife, who supported her sister through a successful cancer fight. Today, Carter is actively involved with organizations that support cancer patients and their families. Now in his second year with the American Cancer Society’s Taste of Hope event, he is honored to serve as Chair and continue driving impact in West Michigan’s fight against cancer.
Leadership
Chef Shawn Kohlhaas, a seasoned 30 plus year veteran of the food service industry, has been leading the way in new and fresh approaches in the food service industry. His passions have been in farm-to-table initiatives with an emphasis on local, organic and sustainable practices. Currently, Shawn is the acting lead consultant and CEO of Culinary Cultivations.
Shawn has been a steady advocate for the American Cancer Society, winning the West Michigan Volunteer of the Year award in 2023. Shawn’s work on Taste of Hope in West Michigan has led the way to raising over a half million dollars for our mission in the last two years.
Since 1946, the American Cancer Society has supported researchers at pivotal points in their career – to give them the support they need to keep great research going or to take their ideas from dream to reality. The American Cancer Society is proud to have helped more than 24,000 investigators make important advances in prevention, early detection, treatment, and care for those with cancer. In fact, 50 of those investigators have gone on to win the Nobel Prize, considered the highest accolade any scientist can receive. As the largest private not-for-profit, non-governmental funder of cancer research in the US, the American Cancer Society has played a role in many of the major cancer research breakthroughs of the last century.
Learn MoreFor more than 10 decades, the American Cancer Society has been dedicated to pursuing better outcomes for every cancer, every life. Today, more people are surviving cancer than ever before, but there is still work to be done. Join us, support us, and help us end cancer as we know it, for everyone.
towards cancer research
increase in five-year survival rate for all cancers combined
lives touched in 2022
