OK, here's the plan so far;
Wal-Mart and Sam's club have stepped up as they did in Joplin. We will be setting up in the parking lot of the Sam's Club in Harrisburg; 6781 Grayson Rd., Harrisburg, PA 17111 on Thursday 9/15 and cooking for as many people as we have supplies for on Friday (Lunch & Dinner), Saturday (Lunch and Dinner) and Sunday (Lunch and then Dinner for First Responders) - If we have resources and staffing, we'll keep on cooking after that!
Our goal will be to get food to as many affected folks as possible, it would be optimal if we were simply 'pushing' pre-made meals to any organizations that are already set up to feed displaced residents and rescuers. If we have enough volunteers and vehicles, we can also head out into whatever affected areas we can get to in order to make meals 'roadside' for people as they are cleaning up their homes and businesses.
In both Alabama and Joplin we had to comply with Health Department criteria; ie: we could use as many 'ServSafe' people as possible, we will have to cook all food at one location, we'll need to keep supply stock up off the ground, we'll need a cleaning station and the ability to heat water for washing cooking utensils and we'll need to be able to hold food at safe temps, so Cambros and Heating Boxes would be VERY helpful!
Operations will be divided into Prep, Cooking, Meal Preparation and Delivery. Again, we want to send food to as many affected areas as possible...including Wilkes Barre, Bloomsburg, Danville, Sunbury, etc. - We've already received requests from Lancaster, Lebanon, Dauphin and Cumberland counties. - If anyone has any contacts or knows of any facilities that are providing shelter and/or food to people, please let me know and I will reach out and see when we can help them!
Operation BBQ Relief is still growing and such has limited funds, but we will be able to purchase enough supplies and food to get started...Sam's and Wal-Mart are willing to contribute to the efforts as well. If you have suppliers that can provide Meats, #10 Cans of Veggies, Individual Snack Packs, Fruit, BBQ Sauce or anything else that we could include with the meals...please reach out and see what you can get...we should have staging areas set up by 8pm Thursday night and could accept deliveries on Thursday.
If you have Smokers and/or people to help prep and cook, let me know what you've got and how long you'll be able to help. If you are able to bring your own fuel to cook, that would be helpful...if there is a need for wood and anyone's got a source...let me know too. I expect that we will be firming up all logistics on Monday and Tuesday of next week and will keep you posted.
You can reach me by e-mail;
Jim@GreatQ4U.com or Cell Phone; 717-682-7703 - If I don't answer, leave a message and I will get back to you ASAP! - Thank you ALL for your willingness to help...in Joplin, we did over 120,000 meals...it was incredible...this will be too!
Jim