Veggie Rescue has added two members to its Board of Directors, Esther Kim Varet, founder of the contemporary art gallery Various Small Fires, and Terry Thoren, CEO of the educational animation studio Wonder Media.
Varet sits on the board of Food Access LA, which connects small farmers with SNAP-eligible shoppers across Southern California.
Thoren has spent more than 50 years in animation, and his child-safety series “The Protect Yourself Rules” has been viewed more than one billion times worldwide.
“Esther already knows what it takes to get fresh food to the families who need it most, and Terry knows how to tell a story that millions of people will actually make time to watch,” said Eryn Shugart, executive director of Veggie Rescue.
“We’re lucky to have both of them as we keep rescued produce moving to our partners within 24 hours,” Shugart said.
Varet founded Various Small Fires (VSF) in 2012 as a home-based exhibit space and built it into an internationally recognized contemporary art gallery, expanding from Los Angeles to Seoul, Dallas, and Orange County. The gallery is known for bringing under-recognized artists to the attention of major museums and publications.
She has served on the board of the MAK Center for Art and Architecture, co-chaired Performa’s Visionaries committee, and served on fundraising committees for the Hammer Museum, the Whitney Museum and LACMA.
“It’s hard to accept that so much fresh food goes to waste while families in the same community struggle to get enough to eat. I’m excited to help Veggie Rescue close that gap.” she said.
Thoren is CEO of Wonder Media, which produces animated lessons that help children and teens stay safe. He was previously CEO of Klasky Csupo, Inc., the studio that animated the first 65 episodes of “The Simpsons” and produced “Rugrats” and “The Wild Thornberrys.”
As CEO of TeachTown, Inc., he spent three years working with doctors, educators and therapists on animated lessons for neurodiverse students, work that led to the WonderGrove Social Skills curriculum for grades K–2.
In 2014 he partnered with the Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center to create “The Protect Yourself Rules,” a library of animated lessons that teaches students in grades K-12 to recognize abusive behavior, set healthy boundaries, and ask for help.
Veggie Rescue is a Santa Barbara County nonprofit that rescues surplus fresh produce from farms and food businesses and delivers it free, usually within 24 hours, to more than 70 nonprofit partners using refrigerated trucks.
Learn more at veggierescue.org.