Whiskey Jack’s BBQ donates more than 480 pounds of chicken to God Works soup kitchen

On July 31, Jeff Weaver’s morning started with a phone call about free chicken and lots of it.

The director of God Works Family Soup Kitchen was at work in Toledo when Terry and Dee Allin of Whiskey Jack’s BBQ Food Truck phoned about donating close to 500 pounds of chicken to the Monroe County soup kitchen.

The Allins were preparing for a private party for 600 people and had placed an order with their normal supplier when they found out days before the event the order could not be fulfilled. They resorted to ordering the chicken from a local source.

Unfortunately, for the Allins, the chicken they received was substantially smaller than what they serve to their customers and they were unable to use the poultry.

“We’re used to getting 2-pound chickens and these were 12-ounce chickens and they just weren’t big enough,” Terry Allin said. “There were 50 in a box instead of 24. There was quite a big difference in size and when you’re trying to supply a customer with a proper product you have to do it.”

Later, when the Allins went to pick up their pork order, they were able to purchase 15 cases of chicken to fulfill their catering need which left them with too much poultry.

“When we came home and saw that the chicken was twice the size of what we had bought earlier, we decided we would donate it to a good cause,” he said.

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The Allins were hopeful a community organization could use it and they started making calls.

“I thought what a wonderful donation. We can certainly feed lots and lots of people,” Jeff Weaver said.

Later that day, Weaver picked up the 12 cases, 480 pounds of chicken, to store them for future use.

“We have a walk-in freezer at MCOP where we can store it,” he said. “We leave it up to individual churches to plan their menus. We welcome them to go to our walk-in freezer and see what’s available to use.”’

“Sometimes, if we don’t sell out, we may have mac and cheese and I hate throwing food away,” Dee Allin added. “I asked, ‘Can we give that to you as well?’ and he said, ‘Absolutely, just give me a call.’”

For the soup kitchen, the food donation could not have come at a better time.

The organization will be losing a major donor and needs meal sponsors and volunteers.

Currently, there is a vacancy for a group or organization to fill the fourth Tuesday of each month to sponsor a meal.

Meals can cost between $100 to $200 depending on what is served. The organizers suggest serving suppers for a family like hot dogs, lasagna or spaghetti.

God Works, the nonprofit, nondenominational organization, relies on public and private donations. Meals are served at 6 p.m. every night of the week at different locations throughout Monroe County. To date, more than 850,000 meals have been served.

For more information about God Works and how to sponsor and serve a meal, contact Jeff Weaver at 419-279-8000.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Whiskey Jack’s BBQ donates chicken to God Works soup kitchen