In The News
In July 2011, Colonel Schenecker thought of an idea for remembering Calyx and Beau. He remembered that one of Calyx’s and Beau’s favorite restaurants was GrillSmith, so he decided to propose to GrillSmith to change the name of their Caribbean Pumpkin Crab Bisque (Calyx’s favorite dish) to something that would honor Calyx. Billy Grimm, then GrillSmith’s President wrote back quickly as he and his staff had an even better idea…they would offer to host a fundraising “Back to School Week” event during which 100% of the gross sales of Calyx’s favorite dish (the Pumpkin Crab Bisque) and Beau’s favorite dish (Spicy Thai Shrimp) would be donated to the Schenecker Memorial Fund. The week-long event kicked off at the Wiregrass Mall location amidst a great turnout and plenty of local press coverage. On September 30, 2011, GrillSmith presented a check to the Calyx & Beau Schenecker Memorial Fund in the amount of $10,500, followed the next two years by successful fundraisers as well: $8,500 and $8,664 respectively. The Calyx & Beau Schenecker Memorial Fund continues to be thankful to Team GrillSmith for setting the example for generosity and coming up with something with much larger impact than our original idea!
Colonel Schenecker returned from the Middle East on Jan 29, 2011 to take care of all of the actions necessary to say goodbye to Calyx and Beau with dignity and respect. Amidst a wave of family and close friends who gathered in Tampa to help, he decided to establish a Fund that would honor Calyx and Beau and help youth in the greater Tampa Bay area as well. A cousin recommended reaching out to the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay for options on how to accomplish those two goals. Community Foundation of Tampa Bay was quick to understand the situation and recommended a path forward by the establishment of the Calyx & Beau Schenecker Memorial Fund, a Donor/Advised fund that is the repository for all official fundraising efforts in Calyx’s and Beau’s memory. We are proud that 99% of our raised funds are available for granting due to our strong partnership with Community Foundation of Tampa Bay. We wouldn’t be where we are today without their guidance and support.