By Judy Carmack Bross
Guest Peter Sagal & Founding Chef Matthias Merges
“Tonight is about joining together over an unforgettable meal, but it’s also most importantly about uplifting the teachers and students that live Pilot Light in the classroom every day.” -Founding Chef Paul Kahan
Pilot Light’s recent Feed Your Mind Gala featured some of Chicago’s most innovative chefs preparing canapés and courses for delighted guests there to celebrate the powerful mission to support students as they learn and advocate for informed food choices by bridging the lessons they learn in their classrooms to the foods on their lunch trays, at home, and in their communities.
Founding Chefs Jason Hammel and Justin Large (left), Paul Kahan and Matthias Merges (right), with 2024 Feed Your Mind Host Antoni Porowski (center)
Guests went above and beyond in their support of Pilot Light’s Food Education mission at the 2024 Feed Your Mind Gala auction & paddle raise
Arriving at Venue West, guests felt extraordinary when Pilot Light’s Founding Chefs, Jason Hammel, Paul Kahan, Justin Large, and Matthias Merges, who, in 2010, conceived of working with CPS teachers to integrate food into the curriculum, greeted them personally, then encouraged them to head for the hors d’oeuvres, the best at any 2024 benefit to date. Later in the evening, “The Pilot Light Classic,” a party for 10 prepared by all the Founding Chefs, starred in the live auction, soon to transform a private home into the hottest restaurant in town.
Amaru canapes
Feed Your Mind guests enjoy a dish from Chef Sarah Stegner of Prairie Grass Cafe: Slow Roasted Salmon with a mustard and lemon sweet & spicy glaze
Working with a vision to create a world of knowledgeable and engaged changemakers for an equitable, sustainable, and accessible food future, Pilot Light invests in classroom teachers— ranging from STEM and Social Studies to Special Education and Physical Education— to integrate food into instruction in core subjects. With Pilot Light students learn through food, they are also learning about food and gain an appreciation for how it connects us to each other and the world around us. And the 2023-24 numbers are like a terrific dessert course: 10,963 students and 354 educators benefited and 31 community partnerships made.
Guest Jennifer Tengelsen wins big at the 2024 Feed Your Mind live auction in support of Pilot Light’s Food Education programs
Anupy Singla and husband Sandeep Gupta (center), Founder of Indian as Apple Pie and sponsor of the 2024 Feed Your Mind Gala, enjoy dinner with their guests
Kathy Argentar, Senior Development and Strategy Consultant, told us how it all began:
“Our Founding Chefs were inspired by Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign at the White House and became motivated to bring Food Education into Chicago schools. They started with a single public school that one of the chefs’ children attended. Recognizing that they weren’t educators themselves, they met with the school leadership and teachers to discover the best way to incorporate food into the regular curriculum. Aware that there are often 30 kids in a classroom, they knew how busy teachers already were, and they were interested in developing a model that would uplift teachers as Food Education leaders and make their jobs easier – while bringing the benefits of Food Education to every student.
“Now we have fellowships for teachers which allow them to connect with chefs, farmers, health experts, and many others in their community. We offer professional development with a stipend which honors teachers as leaders and helps cover costs of food so that teachers aren’t paying from their own pockets. We have had hundreds of fellows and our programs are all over the country. Also, because food is something we all have in common, our model has enabled teachers to further connect with the kids in their classrooms as they talk about their food experiences and traditions.
TV personality, author, and cook, Antoni Porowski served as Emcee, telling the audience:
“I think it’s vitally important to remember that there are so many people out there who don’t have the same privileges we do when it comes to Food Education and access. This is why Pilot Light’s work is so important: imagine how the world would change if all young people had that exposure and connection to food. The magic of Pilot Light begins in the classroom, but it flourishes when young people take what they learned out into the world and help change how their families and communities see and interact with the food system.”
Eric Nordness, Managing Principal of Marquee Development, addresses the crowd in presentation of Ann Weiser’s 2024 Feed Your Mind Gala Honoree award
Ann Weiser, 2024 Feed Your Mind Gala Honoree
Leah Gordon and Felipe Ospina served as Feed Your Mind Co-Chairs. Global business leader Ann Weiser was the evening’s honoree and Kai Fogelson, a student at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business was honored as the Young Changemaker. While a student at Walter Payton College Preparatory High School, he founded the Hydroponic Venture Project, a non-profit dedicated to providing pathways for youth engagement in indoor hydroponic growing systems in CPS schools and local communities.
Inaugural Young Changemaker Honoree Kai Fogelson addresses the crowd about his work founding The Hydroponic Venture Project
Founding Chef Jason Hammel told guests:
“Tonight’s theme is agents of change – celebrating the next generation of food system leaders who are in Pilot Light classrooms right now, getting ready to take what they learn about food out of the classroom and into their lives, families, and communities. We’re here to invest in them: to do our part to foster their leadership and creativity as they shape a better food systems future for us all.”
Eric Nordness (Managing Principal of Marquee Development) embraces colleague and friend Ann Weiser as she receives the 2024 Feed Your Mind Gala Honoree recognition
Left to right: Jason Hammel, Justin Large, host Antoni Porowski, and Matthias Merges at the 2024 Feed Your Mind Gala.
Pilot Light Executive Director Alex DeSorbo-Quinn addresses the crowd alongside Founding Chefs Paul Kahan, Justin Large, and Matthias Merges
Executive Director Alex DeSorbo-Quinn recognized the impact of one Pilot Light teacher in attendance, Ryan Johnson, during her closing remarks: “The simple act of planting a seed is a belief that something positive will come of it in the future. Ryan’s students planted those seeds—and the knowledge and curiosity that Ryan sowed for them will shape our next generation of changemakers. And while Ryan’s experience could be a metaphor for education writ large, for us at Pilot Light, it’s one of many great success stories of how we empower teachers to use food as part of their overall mission. And it’s an experience that—through Pilot Light—we are striving to make available in classrooms nationwide.”
The Pilot Light Founding Chefs received guests at the door of the 2024 Feed Your Mind Gala
Chef Jonathan Zaragoza (Birrieria Zaragoza) chats with guests while serving his canape: Ceviche de camaron a la Mexicana tostada with shrimp, corn tostada, avocado, and salsa macha
Guests (clockwise starting top left): Dr. Kim Kidwell, Amy Funk, Steve Dolinksy, Amy Dordek-Dolinsky, Kevin Pang, Peter Sagal, Anita Pattani, Priya Bhatt, Alicia Rosauer, and Robert Segal enjoy a Chicken Pot Pie course from Chefs Genie Kwon and Tim Flores of Kasama
Get it on your calendars now: Pilot Light’s 2025 Gala will be November 7th at Rockwell on the River. Interested sponsors, collaborators, and guests should contact Tamara Golden, Pilot Light’s Director of Development, at tamara@pilotlightchefs.org.
For more information about Pilot Light’s mission, please visit: pilotlightchefs.org
Photos by: Shabari Bailey
