Students from Robeson Community College’s Culinary Arts Department prepared hundreds of plates Thursday during the Battle of the Butts fundraiser. The event benefited RCC programs and Community In Schools of Robeson County.
Photos by Tomeka Sinclair | The Robesonian
RCC event raises $12,000
Motorists lined up across the Robeson Community College Campus on Thursday for the Battle of the Butts plate sale. The pulled pork was prepared with an original rub by Adam Rugg and barbecue sauce by Nathanial Jordan, both of whom are students in RCC’s Culinary Arts program.
Photos by Tomeka Sinclair | The Robesonian
Dencie Lambdin gets help Thursday loading nearly 50 plates of pulled pork barbecue plates to be delivered Thursday during the Battle of the Butts plate sale. More than 1,800 plates were sold in all.
Photos by Tomeka Sinclair | The Robesonian
Singler
LUMBERTON — Motorists stretched the length of the Robeson Community College campus on Thursday for the inaugural Battle of the Butts drive-thru plate sale.
More than 1,800 plates were sold during the fundraising event, which brought in more than $12,000. The event served as part of the annual fundraising drive for Community In Schools of Robeson County.
“We’re a nonprofit and we operate based on fundraising,” said Danny Stedman, CIS executive director and RCC trustee. “We partnered with Robeson Community College as an effort to generate funds for our operational budget next year to provide the services in the schools that we provide for at-risk youth.”
What made this year’s fundraising event more unique is the competition aspect, staged by RCC’s Culinary Arts Department. Throughout the month of February students in the program competed to see who could develop the best Southern-style pulled pork rub and a barbecue sauce. Twenty-four students accepted the challenge, and their peers and instructors narrowed it down to the top two contenders, Adam Rugg and Nathanial Jordan, who both were declared winners on Feb. 18.
Rugg’s flavorful rub and Jordan’s traditional barbecue sauce were judged to be the best and the recipes were used in the pulled pork that was sold Thursday, with homemade slaw, baked beans, bread and a dessert.
“We’re really excited about the support the community has shown to Community In School and the Culinary Department at Robeson Community College,” RCC President Melissa Singler said. “This has been such a learning experience for our students — everything from coming up with the recipes to actually executing a food event this large.”
Culinary students spent Wednesday smoking about 70 Boston butts, provided by Carolina Surf & Turf Market, in preparation of the event. All hands were on deck Thursday to prepare the plates for sale.
“We’ve learned a lot,” Singler said. “This is hands-on, real-life experiences with the real pressure of delivering product, and you cannot imitate that. It was well worth the effort and well worth the learning experience.”
Tomeka Sinclair can be reached at tsinclair@www.robesonian.com or 910-416-5865.
