Scaling it down from whale to dolphins. ;) Seriously, awaiting the full story here and can understand that not every celebrity can accomodate every such charity wish (especially those in high demand such as certain sports stars). Yet have a hard time buying that this chef is in that kind of demand and can't fulfill such a request. At the least, she should have found it in herself to send him a thank you/inspirational note/vid message and some brownies, donate a few bucks toward leukemia causes (perhaps someone should've told her it was for a Dem campaign instead), etc.
That said, whoever brought this to the press (parents, MAW foundation, other), shouldn't have.