And now for something a little different..Charity

Hopefully all of the wonderful meals I've had and great times I post about haven't left you feeling that I'm a purely hedonistic, self-indulgent FOWG. I actually am all of that, but there's more to it. I am involved in charity as well.
Over the past year I've begun organizing events to benefit the Make A Wish foundation named Shooting with Chefs™ with my friends William Rothwell and Jason Wilt.
Here's our cool logo, courtesy of Unison:

Here's a shot of us with the two guest chefs:

From left to right William Rothwell, Bryan Voltaggio, your's truly, Mike Isabella, and Jason Wilt.

Here's a nice groupie of all of the participants and the sponsors who came.

Our first event was held at the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Izaak Walton League last year. It was a small event where about 25 people got together, ate some good food, shot some fine firearms, and then had a silent auction by the bonfire while imbibing in cigars and bourbon. We raised a little over $1,500, and had a damn fine time doing it.

This year, we cranked up the gas a bit and formalized things a little more. We raised, thanks to the overwhelming generosity of some great companies and restaurants, $17,000 for Make a Wish Mid-Atlantic.
The event has taught me about fund raising, working with people across a much wider range of businesses than I'm used to dealing with, and the generosity of some restaurant people. I have to say, it's been eye opening, impressive, and humbling.

The restaurants and/or chef/owners who so generously donated auction items and time to the event are:
Bryan Voltaggio of Range, Volt, Aggio, Family Meal and lunchbox
Mike Isabella of Graffiato, Kapnos, and G Sandwich
Michael Knapp of Irish Whiskey and Copperwood Tavern
Jawad Saadaoui of District Kitchen
Jaime Sanchez of Cactus Cantina and Lauriol Plaza
David Moran of the Old Ebbitt Grill
Justin Guthrie and Mark Kuller of Doi Moi
Donna Giarratana of ThinkFood Group
Thomas Gates of BF Saul Properties
Michael Morris of Cana Development
Laetitia Liguouzat of Paul Bakery

We'll be doing this again next spring. If you're interested in participating as a sponsor, contributor to the silent auction, or just attending please email ChefShoot@Outlook.com

Thanks for reading!