Meals on Wheels plans 11th annual BBQ fundraiser

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, February 27, 2019

SALISBURY — Meals on Wheels Rowan will sell BBQ provided by College BBQ from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church on Tuesday, March 12.

Traditional eat-in service with a choice of homemade desserts will be available at First Presbyterian on Fisher Street from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. And a drive-through will be open on the Jackson Street side of the church from 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

Pre-ordered BBQ plates will also be available for drive-through pick up from 4-6 p.m. at three satellite locations across the county including; Shiloh United Methodist Church in Granite Quarry, Mt. Zion United Church of Christ in China Grove and St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Mount Ulla.

The chairman of the BBQ Task Group, Kevin Pruitt, and past BBQ chair Connie Basinger wanted to make the plates more accessible across the county. All customers who pre-order can select the site where they want to pick up their plates.

“If I were headed home to China Grove, I would want to pick up my BBQ plates on the way home, and this is more convenient for folks who live or work outside of Salisbury,” Pruitt said.

The deadline for pre-ordered plates is March 7. Only pre-orders will be available at pick-up locations other than First Presbyterian.

Delivery is available from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. for five or more plates. The deadline for placing orders for delivery is also March 7.

Each plate includes chopped BBQ, baked beans, slaw and bun provided by College BBQ. Prepackaged desserts will be included in the drive-through and delivery orders. Customers who eat in can select from a variety of homemade desserts and enjoy iced tea or Cheerwine products.

This year will be the second time Meals on Wheels has offered “Eat One, Feed One” tickets. Customers can choose to buy a $9 plate for themselves or a $15 ticket so they can have a plate of BBQ and a Meals on Wheels participant will receive a donated meal during March.

“Imagine the impact we could make if everyone purchased an ‘Eat one, Feed One’ ticket? We could feed 50 of our neediest homebound seniors for two months,” Board President Tom Robinson said.

Basinger said, “ This is our largest fundraiser of the year as far as the number of people involved. It takes over 75 volunteers to set-up, serve plates, run the drive-throughs, deliver over 1,500 meals and clean up throughout one day.”

Sign up to volunteer for the 10 a.m.-2 p.m. shift or the 2-6 p.m. shift at First Presbyterian. Volunteers will be serving BBQ plates and delivering orders for lunch and dinner. Volunteers also donate all the homemade desserts. To donate a dessert or volunteer, contact Rose Jones at the Meals on Wheels office at 704-633-0352.

“We hope to double our sales this year. Our goal is to raise enough money to provide 3,000 meals for participants who cannot afford to pay the full cost of the meal program,” Pruitt said.

Robinson added, “Many people don’t know that every Meals on Wheels participant is asked to contribute to the cost of the meal program. We use a sliding scale that considers income and necessary expenses. Approximately 50-60 of our participants receive meals at no cost because they do not have the financial resources. All other participants out of the 230 that we serve each Monday-Friday pay from $1-$7 per meal.”

To buy tickets or pre-order BBQ plates, contact the Meals on Wheels office at 704-633-0352 or buy tickets on the website at www.mowrowan.org/bbq-fundraiser