Pastor's Daughter Wins Food Network's 'Chopped Junior,' Gives Part of $10K Prize to Charity
The daughter of a United Methodist Church pastor recently won a $10,000 prize on an episode of the Food Network television series "Chopped Junior."
Nine-year-old Lucy Chelton won the competition during the third season of the program that centered on cooking a snake-themed appetizer.
"When the young chefs must butcher and cook snakes in the appetizer round, will they be too squeamish to let their skills shine through? In the entree round, a dense oddball of a cake must be worked into lamb shoulder dishes," noted the Food Network.
"Then, the last precious seconds of the round are a show of desperation and cooperation as the finalists are challenged to make creative, caffeinated desserts for the judges, actor Chris Colfer and chefs Raiza Costa and Amanda Freitag."
Lucy is the daughter of Eric Chelton, assistant pastor at Christ United Methodist Church of Lansdale, Pennsylvania.
According to a statement by the UMC Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, the young winner plans to share a portion of her winnings with a local charity.
"Lucy … is sharing part of her $10,000 prize with FISH, a Pennridge area program that provides food, clothing, school supplies and other needs to low-income families with children," reported the UMC EPA.
"Lucy's expertly prepared Hollandaise sauce 'was a success,' according to one impressed judge. Increasingly challenging entree and dessert courses followed, as two of the young chefs were eventually 'chopped' from the friendly but suspenseful competition, and Lucy won in the end."
Short for Fellowship in Serving Humanity, the charity Lucy is giving money to describes itself as "a volunteer service provider to those in need in the Pennridge School District."
"FISH maintains a food pantry and clothing outlet. Food and clothing are donated by local churches, businesses, social organizations and individuals," reads its website.