Local restaurants, food trucks provide hot meals for community

KINGSPORT — More than 70 volunteers gathered at Braeden's BBQ in Kingsport Thursday to load up donations and supplies for affected communities around the region.Reid Burton, owner of the restaurant, said his staff have served hot meals since Saturday, Sept. 28. It all started with a phone call that prompted his team to jump into action."Saturday we got a call, and obviously, you know, we saw the devastation on the news," Burton said. "Got a call that said how can we get hot food over there? Apparently nobody was sending hot food. So we partnered up with Ballad on Saturday, and we got 500 meals over on Saturday."He then shared the effort on Facebook, which "spread like wildfire," according to Burton. A customer came in and bought another 400 meals to serve those impacted by flooding — which was everything the restaurant had on the shelves at the time."I've owned the restaurant for over 10 years, it's the first time our shelves have been completely bare," Burton said. "We sent everything we had, got that down there."Braeden's BBQ has brought trailers and vehicles with food and donations to Mountain City, Hampton, Greeneville, Unicoi and Burnsville, North Carolina. He said there has been an outpouring of support on social media, with people from across the nation donating to the cause."The response on social media has been — it has spread like crazy," Burton said. "I've gotten phone calls, I can't even tell you the states I've talked to. I've had people send money from Kentucky, New York, Indiana, Illinois. It's been wild."The restaurant was also recently deemed Red Cross certified, Burton said. This credential will allow him to serve 900 meals a day through Monday.He spoke to the staff's commitment to cooking and preparing so much food over the past week, on top of normal restaurant duties."My kitchen manager has been with me for 10 years, and we were talking this morning and he just said, 'I'm proud to work here,'" Burton said tearfully. "I appreciate them, they haven't batted an eye. They've done everything we've asked them to do. You know, it is extra hours, they know what it's for. Not one belly ache, not one complaint. It's just been nice to know that I can count on them."In the communityAs the Unicoi community struggles to get back on their feet, and first responders are called from all over the state, food trucks have taken it upon themselves to offer free warm meals to anyone who needs it.Across the street from Unicoi Middle School, Juicy Butts BBQ parked Wednesday at 11 a.m. with enough food to serve 400 to 500 people.Madelyn Mikan stood on the sidewalk with a sign indicating there was free food."My dad is here," she said. "He came with his friends Scottie and Chris and they wanted to open their food trucks so they could give free food to people who needed it."Scottie Lamons, Juicy Butts BBQ owner, said the truck was in Camp Creek the day before and gave 400 plates for free."We're just coming over, trying to help folks out," he said. "Doing our part."Lamons' friend Chris Colotti owns a different food truck, which raised about $5,000 for food trucks in the area giving out free food. Their trucks are their full-time jobs, Lamons said, which means they are working without pay or profit when giving to the community.The truck set up at 11 a.m., and by 11:30 a.m. they gave out 20 to 30 plates of food.Two first responders who were enjoying the free meals, said they have been in Erwin since Sunday. Jeremy Hicks and Gary Moore are special operations responders for Madison County Fire Department, which is between Memphis and Nashville."We have a mobile hospital set up, up here," Moore said. "And that's the primary goal, the hospital."They said since the hospital is set up, some team members help with search and rescue efforts.