Matt Schmidt a local restaurateur who owns all the Water Street Brewery locations and other bars and restaurants, remembers the moment 11 years ago vividly.
“I had just finished making bacon and had set the hot bacon grease in a bowl on the cupboard. My two year old boy Cam managed to reach it and accidentally dumped it on himself. He begain to scream and I was terrified.”
The scalding grease severely burned two year old Cam’s chest and chin.
Mom Amy was in the other room.
“I heard this terrible scream and I came running into the kitchen. It was awful.”
The Schmidts rushed Cam to a local hospital who then transferred him to Children’s Wisconsin.
The teams at Childrens’s had a dual mission; to take care of Cam and calm his parents.
“Their empathy and confidence put us at ease immediately,” Matt told me. “They took care of Cam and did it with kindness and effciency. We were completely at ease.”
Cam spent about 10 hours at Children’s where he was bandaged and nurtured and sent home.
The Schmidts experience at Children’s has stayed with them long after Cam left the hospital.
They wanted to give back and got their chance when Gino Fazzari, the owner of the Calderone Club, began Do Good With Food in 2019 after Children’s Wisconsin saved the Fazzari’s daughter Vivianna’s life after a month in the Children’s Wisconsin NICU. Fazzari donated 100% of the proceeds one evening from the Calderone Club and sister restaurant, San Giorgio Pizzeria.
This year there are 36 restaurants participating, including Matt and Amy Schmidt’s Water Street Brewery. For a complete list of restaurants CLICK HERE.
The event is August 21st.
