POWER

OF LOVE

After a devastating tornado hit Joplin , Missouri , in 2011 , barbecue hobbyist Stan Hays got fellow cooks together to serve meals to victims and first responders . That act of love grew into Operation BBQ Relief , which has served millions of meals

BBQ Relief has 18,000 registered volunteer cooks around the country

Since 2011 , the organization has served more than 11 million meals at natural and manmade disasters

Stan with sadness

Hays as , in May 2011 , he watched the news footage of the devastation left behind after a tornado ripped through Joplin , Missouri — just 2 hours away from his home in the Kansas City area .

Thinking about all those people who had lost everything , Stan ’ s heart ached . He went to bed feeling hopeless and helpless . Then his wife , Amy , looked at him and said : “ You should go down there .”

Stan was a barbecue hobbyist who , in his downtime from working in the insurance industry , competed in regional cooking contests . Amy urged him to round up several of his barbecue friends and fellow contestants , go to Joplin and grill hot meals for people hit by the tornado .

She ’ s right , Stan thought and the next morning , he phoned his friend and fellow BBQ enthusiast Jeff Stith , who said : “ I ’ ve been thinking the same thing .”

Grilling up love

As the two friends shared their idea , several other barbecue aficionados quickly came together and , after gathering

Courtesy Operation BBQ Relief ( 6 )

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