Rural Missouri - September 2023 - 35

by Savanna Kaiser |
T
info@ruralmissouri.coop
" We don't have a huge menu, but we're making everyhe
old empty mall parking lot isn't a quiet place
today. A long line of cars stretches across the pavement,
waiting to reach the tents up ahead where
a group of volunteers have been grilling since
daybreak. The smell of smoked meat fi lls the air as the
Florida sun rises higher over the wreckage caused by the
recent hurricane. People are devastated, overwhelmed and
hungry, but their story is far from over. They're about to
discover the power of compassion and barbecue.
" What started everything was the Joplin tornado, " says
Stan Hays, CEO and founder of Operation BBQ Relief. " I'd
spent years participating in barbecue competitions and
rallied the guys I competed with to take our cookers there
and cook for the community. By day three, we realized
there was a huge gap and we were
uniquely qualifi ed to fi ll it. "
Joplin was where the greater
importance of their mission was
made clear to Stan.
" A little old lady cried over the
sandwich I'd given her, " Stan
recalls. " She told me it wasn't about
the food, but for showing her the
community wasn't forgotten and
people can still come together to
show love and humanity. "
A week after they returned, they
fi led the paperwork and Operation
BBQ Relief (OBR) soon became an
offi cial disaster relief organization.
OBR started serving meals to
those affected by natural disasters.
They set up smokers in empty parking
lots and handed out food until it
ran out. The need quickly grew and
so did the number of employees, as well as volunteers.
" We have about 25 full-time employees now and six part
time, " Stan says, adding volunteers range from competitive
pitmasters to stay-at-home moms to church groups. " We
have a culinary team who oversees everything and a lot of
retired folks who have been cooking longer than we have. "
Since May 2011, the organization has deployed to over
100 different disasters across 30 states and served more
than 10 million meals. The OBR headquarters are in Peculiar,
but they also have warehouses, offi ces and freezer
storage dispersed throughout the country, including
locations in Tennessee, Virginia and Florida. " Right now, I
probably have 350,000 to 400,000 servings of protein and
over 150,000 No. 10 cans of vegetables, " Stan adds.
OBR typically begins serving food within 48 hours of a
disaster happening, usually by the fi rst night they arrive in
town. " We served our fi rst sandwiches about 30 hours after
Hurricane Ian hit. That fi rst day in Florida, we did around
200 to 300 meals, " Stan says. " By day seven, we were serving
over 50,000 meals in a day. "
Before arriving on site, OBR often has locals scout
potential locations to serve as basecamp. With several
travel trailers, refrigeration trucks, inventory tents, bunkhouse
and bath trailers the gear can take up to three
football fi elds worth of space, Stan says.
thing fresh daily, " he says. They usually offer large cuts of
meat, such as boneless turkey breasts, pork loins or brisket.
Every meal includes two hot sides of vegetables and
often a fruit cup, granola bar or bag of chips.
" We'll even throw in terriyaki rice bowls or heavy protein
beans and rice to mix things up, " he adds.
Once the food is cooked and ready to be served, the
OBR team hands the boxed meals off to local volunteers.
In Florida, they even hired food trucks that were out of
business because of the disaster to take their food and set
up in various parking lots.
With a 40-by-100-foot tent lined with smokers on one
side and skillets on the other, Stan's team has certainly
learned the art of cooking large quantities quickly, creating
around 1,000 servings of vegetables per hour.
They also serve meals for fi rst
You just need a
heart to give.
It's all about that
one meal that
matters.
- Stan Hays
responders. " If you're coming to
help the community, we're going
to feed you, " Stan says. " Whether
you're a tree trimmer, the local
police or someone cleaning out
houses, if there's no food out
there, we're going to make sure
you have something to eat. " In
Joplin, he recalls volunteers waking
up in the middle of the night to
serve the U.S. Marshals when they
fi nished their shifts. " It was important
to take care of them because
they were taking care of us. "
While OBR doesn't deploy to
every disaster, they're always preparing
and evaluating to determine
if they can help.
" We often look at the communities'
ability to take care of
themselves and see if there's enough resources already in
place or if they'll need assistance in that fi rst week, " Stan
says. " In the case of something like Hurricane Ian where
we know it's going to be devastating, we don't wait for the
state or county to call us. We're mobilizing well beforehand.
They're busy worrying about the safety of the people,
so we focus on the food side. "
Why barbecue? " I think it's one of the quintessential
comfort foods, " Stan says. " I don't know if there's a food
more celebrated than barbecue. And it's easy to feed a lot
of people with it. Think about it, you don't see pasta guys
handing out chunks of lasagna, " he says with a laugh.
Stan says for volunteers and employees alike, the mission
is the same with every deployment. Even if you don't
know how to cook, Stan says there are several positions
available to help fi ll the void.
" You just need a heart to give, " he says.
" It's all about that one meal that matters.
We might just provide it 50,000 times
that day. "
Peculiar
To learn more, visit www.obr.org
or download OBR's Volunteers app.
Kaiser is a freelance writer from
Hartville.
SEPTEMBER 2023 | RURALMISSOURI.COOP 35
http://www.obr.org http://www.RURALMISSOURI.COOP
Rural Missouri - September 2023

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