Chefs for Humanity, a new nonprofit organization, is holding its inaugural event with a "Jackets off our Backs" auction on eBay. Nearly two dozen world-famous chefs, including 10 celebrity chefs from the Food Network, have donated autographed jackets for the auction. The jackets will be auctioned on eBay for 10 days, with the proceeds benefiting UNICEF, the world's leading children's relief organization.

Auction participants include: Food Network's Mario Batali, Cat Cora, Bobby Flay, Tyler Florence, Gale Gand, Emeril Lagasse, Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto, Sara Moulton, Rachael Ray, and Ming Tsai.

Other chefs include: Charlie Ayers, former chef for the Grateful Dead and current chef for Google; Rick Bayless, owner of Frontera Grill and Topolobampa in Chicago and host of PBS' Mexico - One Plate at a Time; David Burke, executive chef at New York's The River Cafe and Park Avenue Cafe; Todd English, who stars on the PBS reality show Cooking Under Fire; Elizabeth Faulkner, executive pastry chef and managing partner of San Francisco's Citizen Cake patisserie restaurant bar; Mark Franz, executive chef and co-owner of San Francisco's Farallon Restaurant; Thomas Keller, owner of Napa Valley's French Laundry, Las Vegas' Bouchon and New York's Per Se; Emily Luchetti, pastry chef at Farallon Restaurant; Nancy Oaks, owner of San Francisco's Boulevard; Jacques Pepin, one of America's best-known TV chefs who has hosted the acclaimed PBS series Today's Gourmet; Art Smith, Oprah's personal chef; Rick Tramonto, executive chef at Chicago's TRU Restaurant; and Norman Van Aken, owner of NORMAN'S in Miami, Orlando and Los Angeles.

The auctions will run on eBay September 12 - 21.

http://www.chefsforhumanity.org