Vendors show appreciation of 1st Inf. Div. Soldiers with food show

By Season Osterfeld, Fort Riley Public AffairsSeptember 22, 2017

More than 30 vendors gathered for an Appreciation Food Show at Fort Riley Sept. 12
1 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Warren Scipio, left, with the Fort Riley Mission Training Complex, waits for retired Chief Warrant Officer 4 Julius Thomas, regional sales manager for strategic culinary innovations, to provide him a serving of food during an Appreciation Food Show a... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
More than 30 vendors gathered for an Appreciation Food Show at Fort Riley Sept. 12
2 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Vendors serve food to Soldiers, family members and other Fort Riley community members during an Appreciation Food Show at Cantigny Dining Facility Sept. 12. More than 30 vendors provided free food and drink sampling to Soldiers, their family members ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT RILEY, Kan. -- From prime rib to cereal and everything in between, more than 30 vendors gathered with the assistance of Sysco Foods for an Appreciation Food Show at Fort Riley's Cantigny Dining Facility Sept. 12.

The vendors provided free food and drink samples to Soldiers, their family members and other Fort Riley community members as a way to show their appreciation to service members.

"It's just to say thank you for all you do," said Kathy McLain, Sysco Foods account executive. "I've got a little over 32 vendors here who are displaying their products and I've got all kinds of door prizes."

Each visitor received a raffle ticket to be included in a drawing with prizes provided by the vendors. Prizes included gift cards, a 100-pound watermelon and more.

Several vendors also gave out gift bags containing their products or encouraged visitors to take prepackaged food items home.

McLain greeted each visitor with a reusable cooler bag to carry the items they received from the vendors.

This year was the second year McLain arranged the food show at Fort Riley. She said she holds similar events at other installations, but nothing as large as what she does at Fort Riley.

"My husband was in the service," she said. "He was in Vietnam and it's just something that's near and dear to my heart and I wanted to say thank you. You know, sometimes we forget to say thank you. That's why I do it. That's why I put it together."

Sysco Foods is a distributor for all of the attending vendors. In turn, these products find their way to dining facilities at Fort Riley and other installations. This food show was also a chance for the Soldiers to offer their feedback to McLain and the vendors about foods they would like to see in their dining facilities, she said.

"These food shows are designed so all these vendors can come out and show products and let the Soldiers come out and taste these products," said retired Chief Warrant

Officer 4 Julius Thomas, regional sales manager for strategic culinary innovations and former installation food program manager at Fort Riley.

Getting feedback from the Soldiers and providing them with a varied and healthy diet is instrumental to morale, he said.

"You don't want to eat the same food over and over," Thomas said. "You want a variety. You want to try to keep the Soldiers happy … Food is a big part of their morale."

Sgt. 1st Class Joshua Canady, senior culinary management noncommissioned officer, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, said he loved seeing all the food options presented at the show and appreciated families being invited to attend.

"I think it's just a big thank you from all of the vendors and everything for everything that we do," he said. "Plus, it gives us a chance to put in real input about the types of foods we'd like to see at the dining facilities."

McLain said she plans to bring the Appreciation Food Show back to Fort Riley again next year. No date has been set.