The first “Q for the Kids” fundraiser benefiting No Kid Hungry NC is scheduled for May 6 from 5-8 p.m. in the McColl Courtyard of the UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, located at 300 Kenan Drive, in Chapel Hill. “Q for the Kids” features Eastern-style North Carolina barbecue and is being organized by Kenan-Flagler undergrads Holden Sasser and John Valencia for Larry Chavis’ International Development class.
This event will feature live music by the Southern String Band as well as a silent auction and other entertainment. William C. McKinney, co-author of a North Carolina based barbecue book, will be giving an oral history about barbecue in our state. Tickets for the event are $30 and available at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/q-for-the-kids-benefiting-no-kid-hungry-nc-tickets-16316540211. One hundred percent of proceeds will be donated to No Kid Hungry NC.
Sasser commented that in North Carolina, more than one-in-four kids are at risk of hunger. No Kid Hungry NC helps connect low-resource children to federal nutrition programs, including school breakfast and summer meals. “We plan to continue this event annually in order to create on opportunity for UNC students, faculty, alumni and friends to connect over food and raise money for children in need of basic necessities,” said Sasser. His father, Tom Sasser, prominent Charlotte restaurateur, has been a supporter of No Kid Hungry NC for nearly two decades. “My father’s devotion to this work has inspired me,” said Holden, “and this is a way for me to give back while honoring a family tradition.”
Sasser and Valencia have enlisted the services of legendary Eastern North Carolina Pit Master Larry Knott who will be cooking a whole-hog from Rock House Farm in Burke County, North Carolina. Knott, a former sheriff of Harnett County who has been roasting pigs for 45 years, cooks traditional, Eastern North Carolina style barbecue using the eastern vinegar-based sauce. He has won numerous barbecue and Brunswick stew cook-offs. “These are outstanding young people,” Knott said, “and I am honored that they have asked me to help raise funds for No Kid Hungry NC.”
Rock House Farm has developed an all-natural forest-raised program for their Heritage Breed pigs. Its pigs snack daily on mushrooms, acorns, black briars, black walnut, persimmons and various starchy roots and tubers. In addition to their forest diet, the pigs receive a supplement of all-natural, custom-mixed grain consisting of flax-meal, alfalfa and barley. No corn, soy or GMO feed products are added. “In addition to raising funds for a very worthy charity,“ said Valencia, “we have the opportunity to introduce classmates, professors, friends and others here to sensational barbecue from a heritage pig cooked by a local pit master and legend.”
Sasser and Valencia are actively seeking sponsorships and items for the silent auction. They can be contacted at Holden_Sasser@kenan-flagler.unc.edu or 704-989-8824.