OSU graduate Wade raises Stillwater wildfire relief funds at Boston restaurants
Wednesday, April 23, 2025
Media Contact: Hallie Hart | Communications Coordinator | 405-744-1050 | hallie.hart@okstate.edu
After wildfires destroyed numerous Stillwater homes in March, community members quickly sprang into action.
Local businesses organized benefit concerts. Neighbors provided food, drinks and clothing.
Support also arrived from downtown Boston.
In the bustling New England city, executive chef Sarah Wade runs a restaurant called Stillwater. The name is no coincidence.
Wade, who graduated from Oklahoma State University in 2005 with a hotel and restaurant administration degree, loves her college town.
“It shaped me,” Wade said.
As well as she knows Stillwater, Wade couldn’t predict what she saw on social media the weekend of March 14. Unusually high winds and raging wildfires left behind charred land, unsalvageable houses and scattered branches, causing devastation for more than 100 Stillwater families. Evacuations continued through the night.
“We always had wildfires, but never anything like that,” Wade said. “It was affecting Stillwater, my second home, so I had to try and do something impactful.”
Wade, the 2018 winner of Food Network’s “Chopped: Gold Medal Games,” turned to the menus of her two Boston restaurants. Stillwater offers smoked pork mac and cheese with molasses barbecue sauce and buttered Ritz cracker crumbs. Sloane’s, her second restaurant, serves Oklahoma onion burgers on toasted potato buns.
Those Oklahoma-inspired comfort foods became the centerpiece of her relief efforts. For about two weeks, 20% of those items’ sales went directly to United Way of Payne County, and Wade didn’t stop there. She also sold Oklahoma Strong Old Fashioneds with $2 from each drink benefiting United Way of Payne County, and liquor vendor Pernod Ricard matched the donations.
“It is truly astonishing to witness individuals across the country support the Payne County community,” said Tylar Wertenberger, United Way of Payne County marketing director. “The efforts of OSU alumni and former residents, like Sarah, only amplify just how special Payne County is and the lasting impact the power of community can have, no matter the distance. We are so grateful for Sarah’s generosity and willingness to lend a helping hand.”
Word spread quickly. Wade's public relations team contacted Boston news outlets, while her father, a former Associated Press reporter and editor, shared the campaign in Oklahoma. By April 1, Wade had raised about $3,000 for United Way.
“People love to help,” Wade said. “Of course, any excuse to come out and eat and drink is a great way to help. People made the trip out to the restaurant to support.
“And then, it’s a story. They’re like, ‘We were in Boston, and we got to have a cocktail because the chef was trying to raise money for wildfire relief.’ It’s cool how those little things snowball so naturally.”
Wade, who grew up in Edmond, Oklahoma, treats each restaurant like a family dinner table, welcoming locals and tourists alike — especially if they’re OSU alumni. The aptly named Stillwater restaurant has even hosted Cowboy football watch parties.
“There’s nothing cooler than watching people in orange come in and take in the space and appreciate watching Oklahoma State football in Stillwater,” Wade said. “Just a different Stillwater.”
A visit to Boston’s Stillwater won’t remind guests of an OSU spirit store, but a few understated pieces, such as Stillwater maps on the bathroom walls, provide Oklahoma flair.
Occasionally, Wade follows those maps back to her “second home.” In April, she returned for the Boys from Oklahoma concerts, taking in the nostalgia of music from her college years.
The trips are infrequent because she stays busy balancing two restaurants, but as her fundraiser shows, her heart and mind are never far from Stillwater. Wade attributes much of her success to OSU’s hotel and restaurant administration program, which is now the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management housed in the Spears School of Business.
“It is my career,” Wade said. “I still have friends I talk to every day from it, and truly, the education that I got from that major, I still use every day."