Community leaders take on Hot Ones Challenge at United Way CommUNITY BBQ
By Rick Garrick
THUNDER BAY — Fort William First Nation Chief Michele Solomon enjoyed participating in the After Hours event featuring a Hot Ones challenge with increasingly spicy wings at United Way Thunder Bay’s annual CommUNITY BBQ.
Presented by Sarjeant Propane, the CommUNITY BBQ was hosted by United Way Thunder Bay in partnership with the Regional Food Distribution Association, Dew Drop Inn, and Roots Community Food Centre on July 9 at the Roots Community Food Centre in Thunder Bay in support of local food programs.
“It was fun and it’s always great to have people come out and talk about important issues to the community, and when you can combine that conversation with something fun and something that is raising funds for a good cause, those are all really great things to do,” Chief Solomon says. “So, I’m happy to have been a part of it — my lips are on fire though.”
Chief Solomon raised the addictions issue during one of the question-and-answer sessions at the Hot Ones challenge.
“I know as a person who has had loved ones struggle with substances, I know it’s really hard to understand and we want somebody to make this situation better,” she says. “It is all encompassing on families and communities, and the truth of the matter is we cannot do this alone. No community, no police, no mental health organization, no family — nobody can do this alone, we really need to be together. We need to support the people who are struggling, but we really need we need to support families, too.”
The Hot Ones challenge also included three other community leaders: Sean Spenrath, one of the organizers of the Wake the Giant Music Festival, regional vice president at IG Wealth Management Michael Nitz, and Thunder Bay Police Service Acting Chief Jeremy Pearson.
“It was very hot, lips are destroyed but it was a great community conversation about working together,” Spenrath says. “It was great to do this with all these awesome panelists.”
“It was great, but the last two were a little much,” Nitz says. “The United Way does a ton of work for our local community and it’s great to see people out of all different backgrounds, and it’s all in the spirit of a United Way to make our community even better.”
“The sauces were delicious, right up to the last two I was feeling pretty confident,” Pearson says. “The last two got a little hot, my mouth’s still burning a bit. It’s really important to be involved in the community, especially when there’s good work being done — an issue like food security is important.”
Albert Brule, CEO at United Way Thunder Bay, says the Hot Ones challenge was amazing.
“We had four very brave and good sport community leaders participating, sampling the wings, answering our questions, and we all made it through,” Brule says. “It got a little hot towards the end, but we also had a great conversation about community. We had a really good turnout; it was the first time we’ve done this (After Hours event) so we hope maybe it will be even bigger next year.”
Brule says the CommUNITY BBQ is held by the four partner organizations to raise money to support food security for the community.
“Those organizations are really filling a vital need in community — there are more and more people that are struggling to make ends meet [with] the rising cost of inflation, et cetera,” Brule says. “The numbers of people looking for a meal at the Dew Drop Inn soup kitchen or coming to Roots Community Food Centre, it just seems to be growing every year, so when we do an event like this, yes, we’re having fun and yes, people get to enjoy delicious food, but they’re also providing much needed funds for these wonderful community organizations.”