Shepherdstown Kiwanis Club members Bill Walls, back left, and Shane Thomas, back right, take food orders from the War Memorial Building’s kitchen on Friday evening. Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — The scent of chili wafted down the stairs of the War Memorial Building, as the Shepherdstown Kiwanis Club brought its annual Chili Fest to life on Friday night.

According to Shepherdstown Kiwanis Club Secretary Adele Knott, the proceeds raised from the dinner portion of the event go toward supporting the club’s charitable work with local and international initiatives addressing children’s needs, as well as toward funding local youth Kiwanis organizations, such as the Jefferson High School (JHS) Key Club, Wildwood Middle Builders Club and T. A Lowery Elementary K-Kids.

“In the past several years, we’ve donated some of these funds to the Boys & Girls Club of the Eastern Panhandle, the WVU Medicine Children’s Miracle Network Hospital, the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life, the Jefferson Medical Center’s First Book for Babies program, the Kiwanis Children’s Fund and Shepherdstown Shares,” Knott said.

Outside of the dinner proceeds, a secondary fundraising event was taking place at Chili Fest, run by Shepherdstown Kiwanis Club Treasurer Margaret Walker.

“It’s a wonderful effort by the members in our club! All of the proceeds are going to the Shepherdstown Day Care Center,” Walker said at the gift sale booth, which sported a wide variety of gifts donated and purchased by club members. “Our club got together and decided they wanted to direct the funds locally and where they would benefit children. We’ve picked different organizations that will help children in the past. Typically for the last few years, the gift sale proceeds have gone to the Shepherdstown Public Library, but now that the library has been set up, we thought we’d select a different organization to benefit from this.”

Community members enjoy chili and cornbread in the War Memorial Building on Friday night. Tabitha Johnston

Walker estimated that as much as $900 would be raised by the gift sale booth, outside of the $1,500 to $2,000 that Chili Fest would raise from food sales.

According to Shepherdstown Kiwanis Club member Shane Thomas, one of Chili Fest’s main attractions is its wide variety of chili options, which numbered at around a dozen chili varieties on Friday night. Chili varieties included vegetarian and vegan friendly options, like a vegetable chili and a lentil chili; classic options, like a three bean turkey chili and a spicy beef chili; and exotic options, like bison chili and no bean venison chili.

“We had a lot of people volunteer to make chili this year! Everything’s going really well,” Thomas said, noting he believed this year’s Chili Fest tied with or even surpassed previous years’ attendance.

With the event’s chili being cooked by the club members, the cornbread served with the chili being baked by the Jefferson High School cafeteria and the event manned by both the club and JHS Key Club members, Knott indicated Chili Fest was something of a community collaboration.

To join the Shepherdstown Kiwanis Club, visit the club’s Facebook page or call 304-870-2184.

Jefferson High School Key Club members serve community members at the chili and cornbread dinner in the War Memorial Building on Friday night. Tabitha Johnston