Friday, October 16, 2009

October Is Senior Q Month: Request for Help

Three years ago KCBS, National Barbecue News, and many other organizations teamed up to designate October as Senior Q Month. I'll let the text from Hawgeyes site explain:


Why are we doing this?

The answer is simple. To raise awareness of the importance of our elderly as a national treasure. To let them know that's how we feel about them. In short, to let them know we still care. If we make one person smile, the effort was worth it. If we make one thousand people smile, it was history.

The concept is a simple one. Show people that later in life they are still important to us, using BBQ as our "canvas". It doesn't matter if its' an individual, or a group of people that are recognized. It doesn't matter if its' an individual, or a group of people that are giving the recognition. It does matter that the recognition is given!

We need your help. We are asking for volunteers from across the Nation (and Globe) to participate. Any Group, Organization, Team, Company, or Individual will be welcome to cook. Any selected Senior Citizen Individual, Group, or Organization will be the target recipient. Be creative. Work with Nursing Homes, Care Facilities, Meals on Wheels, or the Widow down the street who lives alone. The sky is the limit. Coordinate your efforts to get family members involved. Get sponsors involved, organizations involved, or just do it alone.
When you figure out your goal, make it happen.

I want to make this happen here in the Knoxville area in 2009. I made some preliminary calls today to the O'Connor Senior Center and their Meals On Wheels unit. Monday I'll be talking with their dietitian and kitchen people to explore this idea.

But the initial possibilities look like providing a lunch at one of the local centers (she told me the various sites range from 50 to 250 people) or maybe just supplementing the meals on wheels one day, as they serve 900 people a day and there's no way I could organize 900 meals.

I could do a simple lunch of pulled pork and two sides for 50 by myself. But I was thinking if we could get 3 to 5 Knoxville area barbecue enthusiasts to participate, we might be able to put together a nice two meat lunch with multiple side dishes for a slightly larger center. It would spread the cost and work out between the group.

So my request for help is this: If you are a local and are interested in helping, please let me know either in comments or by email. Or if you already have an event scheduled, I'd love to just participate in yours instead.