The pot thickens: Chili cookoff approaches
By Rochelle Moore
Published in News on October 25, 2017 5:50 AM
The 11th annual Really Chili Challenge spices up downtown Goldsboro this weekend as 20 teams compete for prizes and raise money for charity.
The event is Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and will be in the John Street parking lot, off Center Street, where cookoff teams will prepare homecooked recipes throughout the morning.
The cookoff is the annual fundraiser for the Community Soup Kitchen, which serves close to 40,000 meals to people in need each year. The kitchen, at 112 W. Oak St., hit a benchmark of serving 1 million meals, on March 30, during its 37-year history in Goldsboro.
"It fills my heart each day to know I have the support from so many citizens to make each day be filled with food, love and understanding," said Doricia Benton, Community Soup Kitchen director.
The Really Chili Challenge can bring in close to $20,000 for the soup kitchen from event sponsorships, admission fees, team registrations and voting donations.
"All proceeds benefit the Community Soup Kitchen," Benton said.
Even though the formal deadline to participate has passed, the Soup Kitchen is still accepting registrations. The cost is $75 per team. The kitchen can be reached at 731-3939.
The annual event tends to draw repeat winners who continue to find unique ways to win or stand out, including cookoff booths being decorated based on a variety of themes.
Participating teams set up a bucket at each booth where the public can make donations that equate to votes, which are later tallied for the People's Choice Award. In 2016, the competition led to nearly $7,000 in donations for the Soup Kitchen.
There will be first, second and third place Best Chili awards and awards for the Best Decorated Booth. Best Chili award winners receive cash prizes and all award winners receive a large chili challenge award bowl.
"Instead of a trophy, that is our trophy," she said. "Every year (it's) different."
Really Chili Challenge admission tickets are $5 and can purchased at the event. There is no admission cost for children age 5 and younger. Raffle tickets will also be sold for prizes, including a small metal-crafted dinosaur, created by Benton and Sons Fabrication. The piece is a smaller-version of the dinosaur, Humble, that was recently located in the Center Street roundabout.
The Community Soup Kitchen serves and an average of 160 meals per day and is open six days a week, Monday through Saturday, with lunch at 11 a.m.
Area reports have recently listed the date of the Really Chili Challenge incorrectly as Oct. 22, which is the day the event was held in 2016.