4 of the 18 participants with the flag of New England waving above
The Midnight Riders, a supporters group for the Revolution, had their third annual chili cook-off this weekend before the match against Orlando City. This cook-off was to benefit the New Hampshire food bank with either donations of non-perishable items, or a suggested $5 donation. I myself made a nice donation of non-perishable food items.
this years winners, various categories
As fun as it was sampling chili, made with various ingredients, and different levels of spiciness, and judging who had the best overall, most spiciest, most original, and best vegetarian, we also needed to remember that all this was to benefit a food bank, the New Hampshire food bank, where many people depend on private donations to get their next meal.
For me personally I think it is great when people can come together and decide to help benefit, raise awareness, and collect items so that others may have some, on their own without anyone telling them to do so.
Once again had a chat with the Midnight Riders Philanthropy Chair Adam Sell after the event:
How much of a success was the cook-off in terms of money and donations gathered?
It was a big success – we definitely improved on our Cook-Off from last year. On my way to the game, I bought a 22-gallon bin in which we could store the food donations for the NH Food Bank. By the time we stopped collecting food, I couldn’t close the bin for how full it was, and we had two or three bags of donations besides.
Definitely exceeded expectations. Every time we’ve asked the Midnight Riders community for support for one philanthropic event or another, the membership has come through in a big way.
Absolutely. Last year we held a cookie-baking contest in the summer as well as a soup-cooking contest in the fall. (As a sidenote, the same person is now the reigning champion of all three contests.) We plan to reprise both of those events.
Most of the ideas for events come from within our Philanthropy Committee, the group singularly focused on philanthropic events within the Riders. But on several occasions, there have been other Riders who’ve pitched events to us, as well as one or two that came from outside the group. If we can help make an event happen, and we believe that the event can serve our community and the community at large, we’re willing to investigate it.
We’re certainly willing to. If folks have ideas, feel free to pass them along to philanthropy@midnightriders.com, and we’ll talk them over.