Support for McConnell Air Force Base steak lunch ‘shows the best of Wichita’

As a fellow Honorary Commander at McConnell Air Force Base, Steven Werner called his friend Jake Ramstack and suggested perhaps they grill some burgers and hot dogs to help workers at the base who aren’t getting paid because of the government shutdown.

Heck, Ramstack said, why not make it steaks?

“We don’t want to do just the least amount that we can,” he said.

It was a brief call just a few days before Halloween.

Since then, the two have succeeded in marshaling a lot of forces who have come together quickly to raise money and throw a lunch — along with to-go food — for potentially thousands of people at the base.

The donations are going through SB Mowing’s new SB Mow It Forward nonprofit. So far, more than $30,000 has been raised through individuals, the Friends of McConnell and companies, such as Bad Boy Mowers, which donated $10,000.

Native American Enterprises is offering 1,500 steeply discounted steaks for the event.

“We’ll just be hammering them out,” Ramstack said.

Others are making desserts — three thousand of them. Extra money will go for QuikTrip gas cards to give out.

“We all have gratitude and appreciation for the people who serve our country and our community,” said Meghan Polk, who organized the desserts with barely a week’s notice.

Ramstack has known Polk since high school and said she’s “just as crazy as I am.”

“I feel like that’s the best quote you could have for the two of us,” Polk said. “We tend to get each other into situations to give back together.”

Even though Ramstack hasn’t been entirely sure he and Werner could pull this off, he’s already thinking it would be great to make this an annual or even semiannual event.

Honorary Commanders are encouraged to support local airmen and reserves as friendly lifelines to the community, Ramstack said.

It’s important to him to help the civilians who aren’t getting paid either, he said. For instance, there are workers who continue to watch the children of military members without pay.

“I think that’s incredible . . . and they should be taken care of,” Ramstack said.

Even though there will be lots of volunteers to grill and distribute food, he said, they can’t cook traditional steak sides such as potatoes.

“We just don’t have the facility to cook it all.”

There will be an orzo Mediterranean salad and croissants as sides, and for to-go meals to take to their families, there will be those sides and chicken salad as well.

Though there’s technically a sign-up sheet with about a thousand people on it for the lunch and to-go meals, Ramstack and Werner have been warned to expect more.

“Man, we could have 5,000 people if just everybody showed up,” Ramstack said.

The expectation is more like 1,500 to 3,000.

And if more arrive?

“We’ll make a Costco run,” Ramstack said.

The event has all the volunteers it needs, but donations can still be made at www.sbmowing.com/sb-mow-it-forward/.

Musician Joe Walsh, whose VetsAid show is at Intrust Bank Arena on Saturday, also is expected to be at the lunch to greet workers on base.

Though Ramstack is a bit concerned the whole thing could still fall apart, Polk has no doubts it’ll come together.

“He’s going to find a way to pull this off.”

She said there are a lot of volunteers doing small — or larger — parts.

Like when she asked people if they could make cookies. Some volunteered a couple hundred and others offered to do more.

“I think it helps just to break it down into something that people feel, ‘I can actually do that.’ ”

Polk said it’s “people wanting to give back and say, ‘Thank you.’ ”

She warned to keep an eye out after this event.

“You never know what one of us is going to find for a little community service event next time.”

Ramstack said he hopes McConnell employees feel like the city is giving “them a Wichita hug.”

“I’ve been overwhelmed by . . . how generous people have been. It kind of shows the best of Wichita.”