September’s "King of the Wing" cook-off competition was a big hit with local residents, but the even bigger winner turned out to be the Nana Baby Children’s Home, which received the proceeds Friday — $8,771.
"We’re really thankful for this — there’s a lot we can do with it, especially this time of year," said Nana Baby board president John Foster, who was on hand Friday to receive the check alongside Beulah Wilson, who’s headed the Nana Baby household for years.
Foster said a lot of projects have been sitting on the back burner, including fixing the home’s leaking roof, redoing some electrical wiring, revamping the children’s bedrooms and upholstering some of the furniture. Anything left over is put toward holiday items, such as presents and decorations he added.
The men behind the money said they were proud to give to such a worthy cause, and encouraged all local residents to back Nana Baby — even if it’s simply volunteering to read to the children on the weekends. St. Thomas’ longest running foster home currently has six children, ranging in age from a few months to 12 years old.
"We really wanted to support, develop and promote this charity," said Jason Charles, chief of external affairs for "King of the Wing" sponsor Alpine Securities USVI, at Friday’s check presentation. Charles said Alpine has previously worked on St. Croix with the Queen Louise Home and has made Nana Baby its first beneficiary on St. Thomas.
Alpine’s push to support Nana Baby was boosted by high attendance rates at this year’s event — Charles said at least 300 people turned out for "King of the Wing," which fielded 15 teams in the cook-off.
"We wanted to demonstrate that we care about the community in which we live," Charles said. "And we hope to double or triple this amount next year."
Representatives from the winning "King of the Wing" teams — Glacial Energy, Fat Boys and Kokopeli Café/Sen. Shawn-Michael Malone — also attended Friday’s presentation.
