Fischer & Wieser Specialty Foods has announced its sponsorship of the Association of Junior Leagues International and the group’s multi-city Kids in the Kitchen program facilitating improved nutrition and family cooking.
The announcement was made at the AJLI’s annual conference at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis and celebrated at a gala dinner for sustaining members of the international organization held at the Junior League’s Community Resource Center. Representing the company were Case D. Fischer, CEO and President; Deanna Fischer, Chief Experience Office; and Nicole Whorton, Marketing Coordinator. The Fredericksburg, Texas,-based company was also thanked at the conference’s award banquet at the Peabody.
“We are very excited by the possibilities of this sponsorship of the AJLI,” says Case Fischer. “Fischer & Wieser’s message has always been about the many benefits of gathering to share a meal with friends and family. Now, through this sponsorship, we can take that message even further by working hand in hand with individual leagues to help put tools in children’s hands that enable them to eat healthier, make smarter meal choices, and give them skills to actually provide a meal for themselves and their family if need be. We look forward to helping ‘move the needle’ of the efforts of these groups in whatever way we can to improve their communities’ health and wellness through good nutrition.”
Along with an annual donation to the AJLI, Fischer & Wieser has pledged to assist with an equally broad array on contributions – from products and recipes for cooking classes, to cooking demonstrations and lessons, or assistance with gift baskets and other fundraising efforts. The program is active in many cities having Junior League chapters across America and also in Mexico, where Fischer & Wieser has achieved significant distribution in the past few years.
Kids in the Kitchen takes it cue city to city from the specific needs of the community and thus provides different food-inspired services to different groups. In the poorer areas, giving kids hands-on cooking instruction and sending them home with enough groceries to feed their families is the logical focus. When the challenges are less severe, the emphasis becomes teaching young people about better nutritional choices to reverse national trends toward obesity.
The April 20 event menu, created by Texas-based guest chef Scotty Campbell, offered passed hors d’oeuvres on the veranda in the Southern manner, followed by a seated dinner inside the mansion. Spotlighting an array of Fischer & Wieser products, the veranda component featured Chicken Lemongrass Potstickers, Asiago Asparagus Rolls, Tomato Basil Shots and Argentine Brisket Empanadas.
The seated dinner menu in the Main Salon, paired with a selection of Texas wines, began with a Celebration Salad with Grilled Peaches and Mangonero Celery Seed Dressing, and continued with Texas Wagyu Short Ribs with Smokey Mountain Whiskey Demi-Glace, Fire Roasted Sweet Potato with Dr. Foo’s Thai Peanut Sauce, Braised & Glazed Butternut Squash, Cornbread and Biscuits with Peach Honey Butter.
Dessert was the classic Das Peach Haus Peach Cobbler with Buttermilk Ice Cream. A special cocktail was enjoyed by many at the event: the Fredericksburg Sunset, made with The Original Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce, Fischer & Wieser’s best-selling product for more than two decades.
The Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc. is a non-profit organization of 291 Junior Leagues in Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom and the United States. Junior Leagues are educational and charitable women’s organizations aimed at improving their communities through volunteerism and building their members’ civic leadership skills through training. According to its mission, “The Association of Junior Leagues International Inc. is an organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women and improving communities through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. Its purpose is exclusively educational and charitable.”