It's all about our charity

In a very small and outdated kitchen is a chef with a big heart and talent, who feeds over 270 kids, ages six weeks to five years-old, and staff, every day, three times a day at the Child Development Center (CDC) at Luke Air Force Base (LAFB). With 7,500 active-service airmen and 15,000 family members living on or near the base, these young military children attend school, play and eat together daily. Clean and updated classrooms and playgrounds already abound at the Child Development Center on base. However, the last renovation, and perhaps the most needed, is the very small kitchen, where Chef Pierre Adams creates his scratch recipes every day, three times a day, in a not-much-larger-than a suburban home kitchen, and produces 900 meals per day. He stays faithful to using mostly organic and fresh ingredients using little to no processed foods, a no cans philosophy, and minimizes pre-packaged and pre-made food, while following both USDA guidelines and USAF dietary rules.

Fighter Country Foundation President, Ron Sites, brought the LAFB’s CDC kitchen project to the attention of Glenn Williamson: CEO & President of the Canada Arizona Business Council and member of the Blue Blazer Squadron. Ron suggested the CDC kitchen improvement project be the recommended recipient of the 50/50 raffle at Wings & Wheels Scottsdale and Glenn instantly agreed.

“The detail and commitment that Chef Pierre brings to the kitchen every day is remarkable. He has a huge responsibility of creating special menus from scratch, while using a blackboard with 50 children’s names and their food allergies. It is impressive. After the meal the kitchen is cleaned and the plasticware washed (three times a day) getting ready for the next meal, it is a fine tuned machine,” said Karen Williamson, Executive Producer of Wings & Wheels Scottsdale. “I see these young service members dropping off their little ones at the CDC and, as a mother, how reassuring it is to know that their preschoolers have consistent, wholesome and delicious meals during the day, in addition to their enriching world-class early childhood education!”

Through the 50/50 Wings & Wheels’ raffle on March 2, 2024, attendees have an opportunity to donate to Fighter Country Foundation’s project at Luke Air Force Base. The donated funds raised at Wings & Wheels Scottsdale will go toward Chef Pierre’s Child Development Center’s kitchen wishlist, which includes: a commercial grill, expansion of the working kitchen by borrowing square footage from a nearby storage area, improve the flow of workspace, update plumbing and drainage, new commercial dishwashers and enough dishes to rotate 900 meals in a day.

To learn more about the Fighter Country Foundation’s Mission, please visit the website: https://fightercountry.org