Academy Award winner Matt Damon, a native of Cambridge, Massachusetts, traded the big screen for the kitchen in Boston Monday night.
He and Iron Chef Ming Tsai teamed up for “Cooking Live Boston” to help families fight cancer.
Damon joined Tsai and other world-class chefs across Boston to raise money for Family Reach, a national nonprofit that helps families stay afloat when cancer treatment costs push them to the brink.
“Your financial position in this world will determine if you actually can survive cancer,” Tsai said. “That’s obviously a broken system, which we can’t fix, but Family Reach, back then, was kind of the Band-Aid, sending checks directly to the mortgage, to the car payments, to everything.”
“We went through our own cancer battle in our family, with my dad,” Damon said. “I thought often about this organization, because we were one of the lucky families that had the resources to handle all of that other stuff, and I can’t imagine, with the level of fear and trauma that kind of accompanies that journey.”
The movie star is cooking up more than just gourmet meals, also serving hope to families facing cancer.
Families like Raquel and her son, Mikalo — who was just 18 months old when he was diagnosed with leukemia — know that burden all too well.
“We were in a very desperate situation where we were indefinitely in the hospital until he got his bone marrow transplant,” Raquel said. “During that time, I had lost our home. It was, again, very difficult financially, and it took a huge toll … Family Reach kind of stepped in and helped subsidize a rent for us for an entire year.”
“The amount of medicine I needed to take, too,” Mikalo recalled. “It was really hard, and I don’t like reflecting on it, but it’s alright, because other people need to hear this, for sure.”
immediately 18 and cancer-free, Mikalo and his mom are giving back, helping raise awareness for families still fighting.
“There is a direct correlation to financial need and relapse,” Raquel said. “Choosing between medication or putting food on your table.”
For Tsai, success isn’t measured in stars or awards, but in impact.
“The definition of success is actually this: That you can make a difference in someone’s life that impactfully,” he said.
Tsai has already raised more than $13 million for Family Reach, helping families across the country focus on healing, not bills. And for many families, that kind of hope is the best ingredient of all.
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