Share in barbecue work means share in cash success

It takes days to prepare for the Kiwanis Club of Penn Hills, Pennsylvania’s twice-a-year chicken barbecue fundraiser. But the Kiwanians don’t go it alone. Their sponsored Key Club of Penn Hills Senior High School lends a few hands to ensure the succulent event’s success—everything from painting and posting signs several weeks before the fundraiser to mixing the “secret sauce.”

Penn Hills Key Clubbers use a broom to baste the secret sauce on a row of barbecuing chickens.

“The Tuesday before the event is ‘sauce night,’ where five or six Key Clubbers help make the secret sauce used on the chicken,” explains Key Clubber Richey Schrantz. “Thursday before the event is ‘prep night’ and is many Key Clubbers’ favorite night of the year.”

On prep night, the teenagers prepare the potatoes, husk corn, bag rolls, cut cardboard boxes to be covered in aluminum foil, stuff coolers, and set up the grill. Of course, the teens also enjoy helping out the day of the fundraiser.

“We volunteer under the tent filling orders, cooking the chicken, helping cook potatoes in the kitchen, carrying things back and forth, and even making deliveries throughout the community,” Richey says.

And when it’s all over, they certainly don’t leave the Kiwanians alone to do the “dirty work.”

“Our Key Clubbers help the next day, which is ‘cleanup day,’” Richey says. “We clean coolers, dismantle the grill, and clean up the parking lot.”

Their hard work doesn’t go unrewarded. The Kiwanians split the barbecue profits 50/50 with the Key Club.

“(It’s) one of our largest fundraising events of the year,” Richey notes. “This year we brought in nearly US$2,500, meaning our club received $1,750 to donate to the charity of our choice.”