Orange native brings BBQ Masters to Orange to feed survivors
Published 1:59 pm Tuesday, September 19, 2017
Eric Williams/The Orange Leader Ivory Roberts partnered with BBQ Masters for Disasters and the American Red Cross to feed his hometown after Hurricane Harvey flooded most of the county.
Eric Williams/The Orange Leader
Eric Williams/The Orange Leader
Eric Williams/The Orange Leader
Eric Williams/The Orange Leader
Eric Williams/The Orange Leader
Eric Williams/The Orange Leader
Eric Williams/The Orange Leader
Eric Williams/The Orange Leader Courtney Taylor of Sulphur, LA hugs her classmate Glenda Beach who lost her house and belongings during a food drive Wednesday evening.
Eric Williams/The Orange Leader
Eric Williams/The Orange Leader
Eric Williams/The Orange Leader
By Eric Williams
The Orange Leader
Ivory Roberts, who lives in Houston but is an Orange native, has spent the last several days feeding over 5,000 people three times a day in Houston in the wake of Hurricane Harvey devastational flooding in the Houston area.
Roberts decided it would be a good idea to partner up with the BBQ Masters for Disasters organization after he seen the good work they were doing in Houston. “BBQ Masters was doing such a good job feeding is current home town, why not bring them to my home town and help them out,” Roberts said. “This is the third Hurricane I have gone through helping BBQ Masters and I am excited they came to the Orange community, which in fact they are the first group to ever come and help our community”.
Shawn Martin, who is one of the participating members in the BBQ group says, “We came to the area because we knew this area was of the hearts of devastation and was not being serviced. So we got a 35 foot mobile catering trailer that would be capable of feeding 8,000 people in the Orange area. All the food was donated by the American Red Cross and fronted out of our own pockets.’’
The BBQ Masters are all owners of Dickies BBQ restaurants across Texas and they are as follows, Gene Martin, Shawn Martin, David Montoya, Ukiah, and Amrinder Toor.
Gene Martin, “We wouldn’t be able to do this without the American Red Cross. They haven’t told us no for anything we have asked for. We go when and where no one else wants to go, we don’t just set up mobile stations but we drive around disaster areas and feed victims who are not able to come to us. We also are feeding 750 meals daily to the first responders who are also out working. We want to continue feeding the Orange area, however we are in need of volunteers to come out and work.
Several volunteers came out to make the event a success and that it was, Courtney Taylor, a former Orange native who now lives in Sulphur, La, felt it would be in her best interest of heart to come help her home town community. Taylor saw one of her classmates Glenda Beach who lost everything in the wake of Hurricane Harvey standing in the line to take advantage of the event hosted by the groups just went up and hugged her and both broke down into tears.
Taylor says, “It was very emotional for me to see my classmate with a smile on her face after all she had been through, and it broke me down that no one was helping her in the time of need. So I will be here bright and early in the morning to help my classmate start cleaning out her house”.
Several people through out the Orange area showed up to the event which proved to be a success, every person left with a hug and a plate of good old barbeque.
