Beginning Friday, Jan. 30, Operation BBQ Relief, a non-profit that provides food to communities after natural disasters, will give away free meals in the Oxford Walmart parking lot through Feb. 13. The organization plans to feed around 2,500 people each day in the coming weeks.
Photo courtesy: Operation BBQ Relief
Volunteers will arrive at Walmart to begin food preparation early Friday afternoon, according to Stan Hays, CEO of Operation BBQ Relief. Hays hopes to serve food from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Hays went on to share more of the organization’s plan for the next few weeks.
“We’re going to be there to provide that one hot meal that matters to families in need as long as we’re needed and it’s necessary,” Hays said. “If the need continues to grow, we will bring more equipment in and do more for the community. Right now, we’re looking at three to four other communities around the area. We’ll probably also cook a lot of food just there in Oxford, and then send it to other communities to help. We’ll start there, and we’ll work out.”
Hays is one of three Kansas City pitmasters who co-founded Operation BBQ Relief in the wake of the 2011 tornadoes in Joplin, Mo. In the 13 days following the disaster, the organization served 120,000 meals to families and first responders. Since then, Operation BBQ Relief has provided over 14 million meals across 43 states, the Bahamas and Jamaica, serving areas affected by natural disasters.
Hays shared his motivation for serving food to communities struggling in the aftermath of disasters.
“I think it’s seeing the healing power of barbecue and what it does for people at their worst time of need,” Hays said. “Barbecue’s a quintessential comfort food and one of the most celebrated foods in the world. When you take that and you give something like that to a person, and they’re so moved, sometimes to tears … it’s just a humbling feeling of providing for somebody that you know can’t do anything to repay you.”
Joe Wilson, the Operation BBQ Relief project lead, also shared his motivation for serving food to those in need.
“I think if you ask around the organization, everybody’s got a different reason why they go out or why they spend time away from their families to go help,” Wilson said. “I know mine is that it’s just something we were raised to do. If our neighbor’s in trouble, we go and we lend a hand.
Operation BBQ Relief is working with Walmart, non-profits Information Technology Disaster Relief Center, Matthew 25 and Tides of Hope Inc., propane supplier Ferrellgas and propane exchange brand Blue Rhino to coordinate their efforts.
Hays recommends following Operation BBQ Relief’s social media accounts @opbbqrelief for updates and more information.
“We will start posting, for sure, on Saturday, the lunch and dinner times,” Hays said. “If we add more locations, we’ll add those on our social media and have those out there for people to know where they can go to get a hot meal.”
