Community members are invited to Take a Bite Out of Hunger in Hernando, where they are in the process of sampling the best chili in town! About a dozen cook-testants will compete for the title of Best Chili in Hernando County at the People Helping People Chili Cook-Off on Saturday, April 20, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., 1396 Kass Circle, Spring Hill. This event is a fund-raiser whose proceeds will, appropriately enough, help to feed the hungry in Hernando.
“Fundraisers are critical for PHP to continue to help feed the hungry in our community,” said Kendra Kenney, executive director of People Helping People. “The Annual Chili Cook Off helps with that while being a fun family day. The variety of chili recipes entered is amazing. You’ll want to try them all!”
Those who do wish to try these succulent foods are invited to purchase tasting tickets at the cook-off. “A $5 entry ticket gets attendees five opportunities to taste the chili,” said Kenney. “More tickets to taste can be purchased at any time during the event, especially since it’s so hard to decide which ones to try.”
There’s far more than chili at the chili cook-off. “In addition to the delicious chili entries, we’ll still have our Spin the Wheel for prizes, Bake Sale, and Hot Dogs for sale, as we have in the past,” said Kenney.
The chili cook-off is a judged competition. “Prizes for the judged chilis are $100 for first place, $50 for second place, and $25 for third place,” said Kenney. “This year’s judges are Burton Melaugh, Nita Melaugh and Brian Jones.”
Now, if top-quality chili isn’t enough, top-quality duckies will also be available. “A fun ‘extra’ that we’ve added this year is that we’ll be offering rubber duckies to Jeep enthusiasts who participate in Jeep ducking. A $5 donation will get you a smaller duck and a $10 donation for the larger ones,” said Kenney. “The monies raised with these purchases will help to fill a bag for our Weekend Blessings, which provides four meals for children in the county over the weekend when school is not in session.”
“Here’s a bit on what Jeep ducking is,” Kenney continued. “Jeep ducking opportunities are typically for raising awareness and funds for charitable causes. Participants might be asked to make a donation to purchase a rubber duck, with the proceeds going towards a designated charity or cause—in our case, Weekend Blessings. Of course, anyone can buy a rubber duckie—I mean, who doesn’t love them?”
For more information about the People Helping People Chili Cook-Off, call 352-686-4466.
