First Mid-Illinois Bank & Trust is pleased to continue the tradition of supporting local organizations through an annual cooking event, Chef Clash, at the Transportation Education Center at the Southern Illinois Airport Saturday, June 1st.  The event began nine years ago and this will be the 10th year raising funds helping many nonprofit organizations. We are proud to announce that the Veterans Honor Flight of Southern Illinois will be the beneficiary of this year’s event.

This annual event has become a tremendous team effort, executed and supported not only by our First Mid-Illinois associates, but also by non-profit organizations, business leaders and community members who all come together for a common cause.

The Honor Flight program is a non-profit organization dedicated to honoring our nation’s veterans with a free trip to Washington DC to visit their monuments and memorials. These memorials were built to honor their service and sacrifice, and we believe it is imperative they have the opportunity to see them.  We are pleased to partner with this organization to help ensure they will continue to provide vital services in our region.

Over the course of the last nine years, this annual event has raised over $350,000 to benefit the Autism Society of Southern Illinois,  Women’s Center Inc., Boys and Girls Club, Kiwanis Clubs of Carbondale and Marion, Rotary Clubs of Carbondale, Carterville and Marion, the SIH Foundation, This Able Veteran, St. Francis Care and Gumdrops.

2018 was our 9th annual Chef Clash in the Arena, at SIU Carbondale, for co-beneficiaries: The Autism Society of Southern Illinois, an organization working to empower individuals, families and the community impacted with Autism Spectrum Disorders, and the Southern Illinois Healthcare Patient and Community Support Funds, a non-profit extension of SIH dedicated to improving the health and well-being of all those in the communities they serve.

2017 was our 8th annual Chef Clash in the Arena, at SIU Carbondale, and raised $52,150 for co-beneficiaries: The Women’s Center, a nonprofit organization striving to end domestic violence and assist survivors throughout Southern Illinois, and The Boys and Girls Club, also a nonprofit with a mission to enable children to realize their full potential while providing a safe and nurturing place.

The seventh annual Chef Clash event in 2016, raised nearly $35,000 for two local causes, St. Francis Community Animal Rescue, a volunteer non-profit animal welfare organization dedicated to rescuing lost, unwanted and abandoned pets, and Gum Drops, a non-profit organization that helps at-risk kids in the Southern Illinois area by providing them with much needed food.

First Mid-Illinois Bank & Trust hosted the Chef Clash in the Arena 2016, at SIU Carbondale, where around 400 people attended and 100 chefs participated. The event raised nearly $35,000 for two local causes, St. Francis Community Animal Rescue, a volunteer non-profit animal welfare organization dedicated to rescuing lost, unwanted and abandoned pets, and Gum Drops, a non-profit organization that helps at-risk kids in the Southern Illinois area by providing them with much needed food. Thank you to all the volunteers and chefs who made this a very special night!

In 2015, the sixth annual Chef Clash was held at the SIU Arena in Carbondale, IL. All proceeds raised benefited This Able Veteran. This Able Veteran is returning hope to injured veterans and their families by providing them the highest-quality Service Dogs.

The fifth annual event was held in June 2014 and raised over $62,000 for the SIH Hope is Home Campaign to help raise money to build and maintain a new cancer treatment center in Carterville, IL.