Pilot Light Soared at Its Feed Your Mind Gala

Plus, it's my birthday eve — paid subscriptions = great gifts

Nov 13, 2023

*Photo of Pilot Light’s founding chefs, by Sandy Noto for Pilot Light.*

I was pleased to attend the Pilot Light non-profit’s Feed Your Mind annual gala, which took place on November 3 at Venue West in the Near West Side neighborhood. The event underscored the amazing growth of chef-driven Pilot Light in its mission to teach children about food by working with teachers to integrate food education into students’ curriculums.

We’ll have a rundown of the event, after this important message.

Will You Be My Birthday Santa?

Ho-ho-ho, it’s my Birthday Eve. That means 20 birthdays since the one in which I had to face down that nasty prostate cancer. I can’t properly express how grateful I am that I am here to write those words.

That 20th anniversary is the pretext for Local Food Forum’s current paid subscriptions campaign. Above and beyond the benefits of paid subscriptions to this mission-driven publication’s financial viability, I have pledged 20 percent of proceeds to pediatric cancer care at Lurie Children’s Hospital (the recipient is my choice and the hospital is not involved in this campaign).

Thanks to the lovely folks who have already obtained new paid subscriptions since the campaign started, I have $92 set aside for the charitable donation. That means just one more paid subscription will put us over $100. Even more subscriptions = more money to fight cancer, which would be an excellent birthday present indeed.

We are talking $5 a month or $50 a year for almost daily publication of the only news platform in our region (and, as far as I know, anywhere) that is focused entirely on building resilient local food ecosystems based on healthy food produced using sustainable, humane and fair practices. Better for people, better for the planet.

I hope you’ll consider joining our growing community and…

Now, back to Pilot Light…

Pilot Light was founded in 2010 by the leading farm-to-table chefs in the photo at the top: from left, Justin Large, Jason Hammel, Paul Kahan and Matthias Merges. I first encountered Pilot Light during my early days working for FamilyFarmed and attended my first chefs’ classroom sessions in February 2015.

That was not long after Alexandra DeSorbo-Quinn became Pilot Light’s executive director and was seeking to move beyond its startup phase. At that time, the organization was working in just a handful of Chicago public schools. But with Alex’s leadership and boundless support from Chicago’s culinary community, Pilot Light is all grown up, and then some.

According to the organization, its 2022-23 impact, now national, included:

2,730 students reached through its Food Education Fellowship, Classroom to Cafeteria, AgEd and Advocacy, and SnackTime Explorers programs.
23 teaching Fellows across 13 states.
23 Teacher-led community partnerships.
40 chefs engaged through both in-classroom partnerships and Pilot Light development projects.
And five new full-time staff positions.

That growth is certain to accelerate over the next year, thanks to the proceeds from the Gala. The event, attended by more than 250 guests, raised a total of more $600,000… with the biggest chunk coming from some very avid and deep-pocketed supporters during the live auction (seen in the photo below)

While all seven of the incredible experiences up for bid drew sizable returns, the one that scored the most money was a seven-day trip to Switzerland for eight people in which founding chefs Matthias Merges, Paul Kahan and Jason Hammel will participate in some of the events. After a long series of can-you-top-this bids, the package sold for… $60,000.

The gala was emceed by Chef Dominque Leach. Ken Frederickson — a longtime Pilot Light supporter, master sommelier and founding partner in High Road Spirits — became the organization’s inaugural Feed Your Mind Gala honoree.

So what exactly is Food Education? Here’s how Pilot Light defines it:

Food Education is a comprehensive educational approach that brings the power of food into the classroom. By weaving food topics into everyday classroom learning, students receive vitally important Food Education that directly connects food to other subject areas. Food Education brings classrooms together. When students feel connected to each other, their teachers, and their communities, they are able to thrive academically and socially.
At Pilot Light, we believe in the expansive, complex nature of food: Food is personal, cultural, political, and nutritional to both the mind and the body. We believe in a non-prescriptive Food Education model — one that does not dictate which food choices are “best.” This is key to our equity-based, teacher-led approach.

By now you may be asking: This was a Gala in which 14 leading chefs participated… so where’s the food? We don’t want to give the incredible menu short shrift, so we be back in tomorrow’s Local Food Forum with that shoutout.

And Pilot Light would welcome your tax-deductible donations. Here’s the link to donate:

Donate to Pilot Light