Man Who Raised $55K for Potato Salad Throws Big Party

An Ohio man who raised $55,000 in a joking crowdfunding appeal to pay for his first attempt at making potato salad threw a huge public party yesterday that promised "peace, love and potato salad." PotatoStock 2014 was held in downtown Columbus and featured bands, food trucks, beer vendors, and, yes, plenty of potato salad. With more than 3,000 pounds of potatoes, the charity-minded party was open to people of all ages. Zack Brown had jokingly sought $10 on Kickstarter in July to buy potato salad ingredients, but his mission drew global attention and earned tens of thousands of dollars.

The Idaho Potato Commission and corporate sponsors donated potato salad supplies for the party. Brown is partnering with the Columbus Foundation to support charities that fight hunger and homelessness. The account started with $20,000 in post-campaign corporate donations and will grow after proceeds from PotatoStock are added. "His fund will have potential way after this potato salad is forgotten," Lisa Jolley, the foundation's director of donors and development, told the Columbus Dispatch. Brown told the newspaper that he intends to "do the most good that I can." (See why Brown's Kickstarter campaign may have been "evil.")