“‘We knew that it was time for us to scale up or grow or develop a strategy to build upon the work and become sustainable. Southern Smoke quickly rose as top of class,’ said Pay It Forward Executive Director Carrie Larson, who will lead the organization until the transition period is complete.”
“Shepherd founded the Southern Smoke Foundation to tackle some of the restaurant industry’s biggest problems. Cooks, suppliers, servers, bartenders, delivery people, and other food workers often grapple with low wages and stressful workplaces. Southern Smoke offers solutions for both of these problems, all across the United States.”
“Legendary pitmaster and Beard Award winner Aaron Franklin, who has been a brisket-serving staple at the festival since the beginning, said the heart and soul of the event is the same today as it was when it began. ‘The feels and the hugs and the high fives are always there,’ Franklin said. ‘This is the only event I cook at out of the entire year. I don’t (usually) do these things, but we will always be here.’”
“While Southern Smoke isn’t on the ground in Maui helping serve food or distributing supplies, the nonprofit is doing what they believe is most valuable, [Chief Mission Officer Cat] Bill added: “We’re putting money in people’s hands.””
“Through Behind You, Southern Smoke provides grants to universities. In exchange, Southern Smoke can send clients over to them for no-cost counseling.
“We need to make sure that we have the roadmap [for Behind You] built in each state,” Chris Shepherd, Founding Director of Southern Smoke Foundation, said. “This program is going to be going long after I’m gone because it’s always going to be needed, so we have to build that path of success instead of just throwing it all at one thing and see what sticks,” he added.”
“We need to stand up and say there’s a problem, and we need to encourage people in our industry to talk to someone because it doesn’t help anyone just to hold everything inside,” Shepherd said. “It’s time for a change; we’ve lost too many people in our industry. We want to make mental health resources accessible to encourage as many people as possible to take advantage of counseling services.”