ELLSWORTH AIR FORCE BASE, S.D. -- Mr. Chad Whitney, owner and operator of Circle-E Beef, donated fresh meat to Airmen and their families at Ellsworth Air Force Base, Jan. 6, 2022.
Whitney and his business partner and friend, Mr. Ken Charfauros, owner and operator of Wall Meat, selected and prepared this meat to be donated to the base’s Airmen as a way of sharing good fortune and to show appreciation for the efforts of their service.
“I do a lot of business with Ken, and we just kind of had discussed that we’re both very fortunate and so we decided to reach out to see if we could provide meat to people that need it,” said Whitney.
Whitney inherited his grandfather’s ranch and currently runs it with the help of his wife and sons. He estimates that at any given time, the ranch could be home to 150-to-300 head of cattle.
After Whitney selected the cattle from the ranch, Wall Meat took over the process to butcher and package the meat to be donated. Whitney remarked that even though he donated the meat, Charfauros was the driving force behind the idea to donate to the Airmen. Charfauros himself is a veteran, finishing his career in 2010 after attaining the rank of chief master sergeant. His son, Capt. Travis Charfauros, is currently stationed at Ellsworth Air Force base, and worked with his father and Whitney to make the donation process smooth and effective.
This was Whitney’s first donation to Ellsworth, however he hopes to continue this trend of generosity; not only for the military but anyone he can reach who is in need. The ideal situation would be for these donations to happen annually for the foreseeable future.
“We just really appreciate the sacrifices that the military has made, that these people have made,” said Whitney.