BBQ's Brightest Come to Rescue To Help Hurricane Harvey Victims

This past weekend at the American Royal, hearts were heavy for Texas, which saw horrific devastation from Hurricane Harvey. Many of top teams came from Texas to compete and some had stories of team members who had personally been affected by the storm.

But the community at the Royal and all over the country didn't just sit in distress. They took action to help.

Perhaps the most notable way the BBQ community stood up to help Texans in need? Operation BBQ Relief (OBR), a nonprofit that serves meals to victims of natural disasters, operated on two fronts this past weekend. Part of the organization was at the Royal raising money to buy more meals and supplies during its annual Pigapalooza party. Several businesses donated checks up to $20,000 during the event, including Moore's Marinades and Seaboard Foods (pictured above).

And the other part was down in Texas prepping and serving meals to thousands upon thousands of Harvey victims. OBR has served more than 200,000 meals in Texas since it set up last Tuesday. On Day 6 of its deployment, OBR served a record 45,760 meals in one day: 6,000 in Silsbee/Beaumont, 8,000 in Victoria/Rockport, and 31,760 in the Greater Houston area. To make this many meals, OBR has so far used 86,250 pounds of raw pork, 10,091 #10 cans of vegetables, and 6,728 full-size aluminum pans and lids. It will continue to break records.

On top of OBR's efforts, other heavy hitters in the BBQ world showed up to help Texas. New York City area pitmasters Ari White and Sruli Eidelman (both winners of the annual Brisket King competition) went down to La Grange, Texas to join Texas giants like Wayne Mueller of Louie Mueller Barbecue and Bryan Bracewell of Southside Market prepare food for the many victims in that area.

This show of support from the BBQ community is an inspiration to all and it shows the amazing reach of the BBQ community all over America.

Donate to Operation BBQ Relief and help them continue their efforts.