HAMMOND, La. — Jeff Petkevicius spent much of his Monday making sure everything was ready.
“We’ve got a lot of chicken we’re going to thaw out,” Petkevicius said. “All the ingredients and supplies. These will all go.”
From the smoked ribs to the seasoning, all of it will head to Shreveport Tuesday morning to help folks dealing with the aftermath of severe weather late last week.
“The bottom line, we bring hope and love to people when they need it most, disasters,” Petkevicius said.
Seeing a need to feed, this pitmaster turned to his Hammond-based non-profit United by BBQ.
All the prep work and cooking will mean 1,000 meals handed out to first responders and people in need. Petkevicius plans to start cooking early Tuesday morning before loading up a trailer.
“We’re a small little outfit. We’re pretty nimble so we can get out quick,” said Petkevicius. “When a disaster hits, we can get there, set up, start cooking and helping people.”
Petkevicius says other relief efforts are happening in Texas, where the same storm system created a deadly tornado. In North Louisiana, there are fallen trees, damaged homes and power outages.
“You feel so bad when you’re up there and you’re driving through and you see all the devastation and it’s one meal but we do as much as we can and try and help,” said Petkevicius.
For Petkevicius, that’s doing what he does best.
“BBQ says I love you,” said Petkevicius.
Working with a network of community organizations, a decision he made Sunday afternoon is now a plan of action.
“We’re very blessed to be able to do it, to be able to go up there and help people,” Petkevicius said.
He just hopes some BBQ will give folks a side of relief.
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