Charlottesville, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW): The family of William Allen “Will” Peterson is announcing several culinary arts scholarships for graduating high school students’ courtesy of the foundation that bears his name. Peterson, an accomplished executive chef, studied culinary arts at Charlottesville-Albemarle Technical Education Center and began his work in food service at a local restaurant in Charlottesville after moving from Arlington, VA. Peterson graduated with an A.S. and B.S. from Culinary School and Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte, where he began work as a Chef at Foxcroft Wine Company. He rose the ranks to a leadership position very quickly and worked to develop many Foxcroft locations across Charlotte. After 16 years, his career looked poised to continue for a long time, but Will passed away on November 1st of 2023 at the age of just 31. “Will regularly talked about the lack of professionalism, discipline, dedication and confidence that was missing from many of the cooks and kitchen staff he hired, trained and mentored…” said Morris Peterson, Will’s father and the leader of the foundation. He goes on to outline the purpose of these scholarships is to help provide the exact training whose importance and absence Will emphasized. The foundation itself is quite new and is currently expecting its 501 (c)(3) status in the 4th quarter of 2024. According to the release that follows the announcement of the incoming scholarships “…The first phase provides merit-based scholarships for seven to ten culinary arts students to offset costs of attending higher level culinary schools graduating in the 2024-2025 school year…” It’s in the intention of the foundation to begin doling these scholarships out to schools in both Charlottesville and Charlotte, the two most important cities across Will’s culinary career, and any interested schools are encouraged to follow the foundation’s social media channels for any updates.