Pitmasters to the rescue: Operation BBQ Relief fires up support after hurricane

For many Texas Gulf Coast residents who lost power after Hurricane Beryl, a hot meal was hard to come by.

Operation BBQ Relief came to the rescue, serving thousands of barbecue meals pit-smoked by competition barbeque cooks to at-risk community members, as well as first responders and line workers repairing the electric grid. Phillips 66 provides financial support to the nonprofit for disaster relief.

The big picture: Hurricane Beryl slammed the Texas Gulf Coast on July 8 as a Category 1 storm, knocking out power to nearly 3 million homes and businesses. Many residents endured days without power.

Zoom in: Armed with a fleet of cooks, mobile pits, kitchens and volunteers, Operation BBQ Relief served nearly 34,000 meals in Lake Jackson, Texas, a hard-hit community an hour southwest of Houston and just 20 miles from the Phillips 66 Sweeny Refinery.

• Phillips 66 employees volunteered at Lake Jackson and helped deliver meals to other Houston-area communities in need.
• Operation BBQ Relief’s outreach in southeast Texas attracted volunteers from nine different states, who endured sweltering temperatures to provide hot meals.
• The organization also responded in Perryton, Texas, in 2023 when a tornado struck the small Panhandle town near the Phillips 66 Borger Refinery.

Zoom out: Operation BBQ Relief was founded in 2011 after a tornado hit Joplin, Missouri.

• A network of volunteers and equipment across the country enables it to mobilize rapidly and serve hot meals within 24-48 hours of a disaster.
• To date, the nonprofit has provided over 11 million meals throughout the United States and internationally.
• After serving meals in Houston during the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in 2017, Operation BBQ Relief was invited to compete annually in the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s famed World’s Championship Bar-B-Que Contest and was named grand champion in 2019.

What they’re saying: “We were thankful for the opportunity to work with Operation BBQ Relief to lift spirits and build community during this time of need,” said Courtney Meadows, manager of Social Impact at Phillips 66.

• “Supporting the communities where Phillips 66 operates is embedded into our company culture,” said Teresa Lopez, a network optimization analyst for Phillips 66 who volunteered at a meal distribution site. “We were grateful to be able to provide much-needed assistance to those who needed it most.”