Emotions ran high at the 13th annual Chocolate, Champagne and Chefs fundraiser to benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of St. Lucie, Indian River and Okeechobee counties. This year’s affair, held at the Quail Valley River Club, paid tribute to the Jake Owen Foundation, for their “continuous dedication to the children of Indian River County.”
“We believe that every child has potential, and we will stand beside them as mentors, as allies, as they reach that potential,” said BBBS CEO Stacey Watson-Mesley.
Watson-Mesley shared that she was raised in the mountains of Virginia by parents who were basically blue-collar workers, and yet she went on to obtain a master’s degree and now runs a three-county mentoring agency.
“My parents weren’t lacking in anything except a college education, but I didn’t know how to do that part of life. I didn’t know how to make good grades, and it was mentors who got me there,” said Watson-Mesley.
“Country music is, for real, the soundtrack of my life. So to sit here and honor the Jake Owen Foundation, that not only projects this beautiful country music, but believes in the children right here at home, was everything to me,” said Watson-Mesley, before quoting from the hit song, ‘Angels Among Us.’
She said the event celebrated and championed the work of mentoring and what “each and every one of you has given to make this work possible, I just want to say, you are the angels among us.”
In a video presentation, Jake Owen said he was honored and flattered that the Jake Owen Foundation was being honored, adding, “I’m really proud to be able to use my voice and my platform to be able to help people raise awareness and funds for organizations like Big Brothers Big Sisters.”
Event co-chairs Kristi White and Lindsay Yencho presented the award to Jake’s father, Steve Owen, and twin brother Jarrod Owen, who now serves as president of the Jake Owen Foundation.
“My dad started this 11 years ago with my brother. Growing up in a great family and coming from a great background of people that love you, you don’t realize how much other people out there are suffering,” said Jarrod Owen. With heartfelt emotion, he said the greatest part for them was empowering children to grow and prosper. “It means a lot to me; it really does. There are so many people who have supported us over the years, and without your help we could not continue this.”
Steve Owen added his thanks, saying that he was proud that Jake was using his talents to help others less fortunate, and seconded Jarrod in thanking all their supporters.
As a signature feature of the event, scrumptious chocolatey desserts had been prepared by local chefs, following a delicious dinner by Quail Valley Executive Chef Joe Faria and his team. Anna Valencia Tillery introduced this year’s talented chocolatiers – Chefs Travis Beckett, Wild Thyme Catering; Brenda Maerkle, Quail Valley; Matthew Piscitelli, Flavored Fork Catering; Scott Varricchio, Citrus; and Kitty Wagner, Blue Star Brasserie.
Watson-Mesley spoke about their Big Mission initiative, launched in 2020 with funding from Impact 100 and overseen by Army veteran Ryan Meeks, to recruit veterans, law enforcement and first responders as mentors.
Despite needing all programs to be revamped overnight due to the pandemic, they have all been successful and additional features were created to engage littles and their families.
“Everybody came together to make certain that no matter how hard we personally were being hit, because all of us were being personally affected, that our littles were cared for,” said Watson-Mesley, reiterating her thanks.
For more information, visit bbbsbigs.org.
Photos by Kaila Jones
