Since 2011, Operation BBQ Relief has mobilized professional and amateur pitmasters to load up their rigs and rush to regions that have been affected by natural disasters. Born out of a response to the tragic tornado outbreak that struck Joplin, MO on May 22 of that year and resulted in the deaths of more than 150 people, Operation BBQ Relief realized that barbecue is an easy food to cook for large crowds to offer comfort and sustenance. Ever since, whenever there is a community in need, you can expect to see the organization’s rolling pits pulling up to the scene.
Even before the current pandemic crisis, Nashville was definitely feeling the hurt from their own tornado outbreak that hit in early March. The destruction stretched across several counties and damaged some of Music City’s most beloved historic neighborhoods in North Nashville, Germantown and in the Five Points area of East Nashville after the twister jumped the Cumberland River. Within hours, local pitmasters started organizing with Operation BBQ to set up a command center near Nissan Stadium to begin cooking meals for displaced residents and first responders.
Among those participating were local barbecue legends Carey Bringle of Peg Leg Porker and Pat Martin of Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint — along with other chefs like The Farm House’s Trey Cioccia, Billy Terrell of The Beached Pig and Jason Perrigin of Perrigin Paradise Catering. Together, these talented cooks and Operation BBQ Relief took turns preparing food around the clock and provided 60,780 hot meals plus another 60,000 uncooked meals for residents of the city of Nashville and surrounding communities.
Just as the city began to return to some semblance of normalcy after the storm, the COVID-19 crisis gripped the country and forced Nashville restaurants to shutter for months. Undeterred, Operation BBQ Relief decided to stay in town and change their focus to putting some of these displaced hospitality employees back to work while continuing to feed those in need.
Carey Bringle describes the scope of the effort: “OBR covered the costs of the ingredients and provided the restaurants with a nominal fee to cover costs, prepare them in their kitchens and get them deployed. This helped us get our people back to work and do something wonderful for the community. Over a 14-day period, Peg Leg Porker and OBR provided 35,000 meals to the Nashville community. Once that period was over, we handed the deployment off to Martin's, who is now doing the same. In the end, 70,000 meals will have been served to feed Nashville's most in need. The beneficiaries were Room In The Inn, the Nashville Rescue Mission, Second Harvest Food Bank and Project Return.”
One of those plates of fine barbecue turned out to be a milestone, the five millionth meal prepared and served by Operation BBQ Relief in less than a decade. That is a remarkable number considering it is an all-volunteer operation that operates out of multiple locations. So the next time when you see smoke after a natural disaster, it might actually be a sign of hope.
