A Way to ‘Raise a Little Money’

A VFW Post in the Silver State for the second time organized a barbecue contest to help raise funds for scholarship programs funded by VFW.

VFW Post 3396 in Sparks, Nevada, a suburb east of Reno, Nevada, hosted the 2nd Annual Armed Forces BBQ Challenge which had 17 total groups of competitors. VFW Post 3396 Commander Candace Beck said that the Post raised $4,325 from hosting the competition.

Beck said that in the barbeque competition’s first year, it featured local amateur cooks. Beck, a Korea Defense Service Army veteran, said that for the second year, Post members “wanted to go bigger.” So, members of Post 3396 decided to host the annual event with professionals and “backyard” grillers.

“We hosted the event to raise money for the Patriot’s Pen and Voice of Democracy scholarship programs,” Beck said. “We also did it to fund our Post’s VA nurses scholarships.”

VFW Post 3396 Quartermaster David Sousa told KOLO-TV, an ABC affiliate in Reno, that the barbecue competition is a way for the Post to “give back” to its community. Sousa added that the attraction was a good way to bring the community together and “raise a little money for the VFW Post.”

Members of the Kansas City Barbeque Society were on hand to judge every meat made at the Armed Forces BBQ Challenge. VFW National Headquarters in July partnered with the Kansas City Barbeque Society, which sanctions official barbeque competitions. The Kansas City Barbeque Society plans to send judges to other barbeque contests at other VFW Posts across the country.

In July 2021, VFW Post 3396 was selected as VFW’s Post of the Month as part of the #StillServing campaign. Visit vfw.org/stillserving to learn more about #StillServing.