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WHEELING -- Union trade workers and the contractors who employ them are coming together for their first Project BEST Steak Fry, with proceeds benefiting a new play area for children receiving care at WVU Medicine Children’s.
The Project BEST Steak Fry is scheduled for 5-8 p.m. Aug. 13 at Oglebay Park’s Levenson Shelter.
More than 250 people have already registered to attend, prompting organizers to close registration, according to Nathan Butts, executive director of Project BEST.
“We already have 250 coming, so the registration is closed now,” he said. “It turned out to be quite a large showing. We may have to rent a tent to set up next to the shelter.”
The event will feature steak, baked potatoes, beer and water. Project BEST will provide tableware.
“Prizes have been donated, and there will be a Chinese auction-style raffle for the donated items,” Butts said. “You buy a sheet of tickets, and you drop them into a paper bag” for a chance to win a specific prize.
Winning tickets will be drawn from each bag.
Cornhole and Kan Jam also will be available.
“We will be getting together for a few hours for good food, good drinks and a good cause,” Butts said.
Project BEST’s sister organization, the Ohio Valley Construction Employers Council, hosted a steak fry for many years before Project BEST assumed responsibility for the event this year.
“We have a large base group that contributes, and we thought we would make this a charitable event,” Butts said.
Many of Project BEST’s union members and contractors have worked on the WVU Medicine Children’s Robert Sonneborn Family Pediatric Outpatient Center in recent months.
“At Wheeling Hospital, they have redone the old dialysis center and turned it into the children’s outpatient center,” Butts said. “On the job were our union members and contractors. They were using our members to build, and we would like to give back to what they are doing.”
Proceeds from the steak fry will help fund the construction of Austin’s Playroom inside the children’s outpatient center.
Made possible through the Mario Lemieux Foundation, Austin’s Playrooms are designed to provide hospitalized children with a safe, fun and engaging place to play while their families focus on medical care and healing.