HOUSTON – John Mercer of Gettin’ Sauced Cookers said he was hard at work BBQing to help feed thousands when his trailer caught fire.
“We were heating the pit up and the torch caught fire. The next thing you know all hell broke loose,” said Mercer.
By the time the fire was put out, although the pit was able to be saved, the trailer was pretty much a total loss. Mercer said the fire is a major setback.
“I could probably pull 3,000 or 4,000 more meals off of it, at one time, so that’s a big hit for us,” he said.
The cooking team is well-known around the community for its work with charities and support for first responders, veterans and countless others in need.
In all, Mercer said they’ve likely served over a million meals in the last 10 years and have helped to raised thousands of dollars for hundreds of benefits.
”Anybody in need. We’ve done a lot for our first responders, we do a lot for the military, we do kids with cancer,” Mercer said.
With their largest cooking trailer now out of commission, Mercer’s friends have turned to GoFundMe in an effort to replace it.
“When you do so much for everybody else when it’s your time to need help, you need to actually get it,” said Charlie Diggs, a friend of Mercer that set up a GoFundMe page.
Mercer said the community’s response has been overwhelming and is certainly much appreciated.
”I get emotional. It’s great you know,” he said. " Man, I thank everybody you know. We’ll get it rebuilt one way or another.”
Click here to support the team via GoFundMe.