The thread on buttering sandwiches suddenly made me wonder - do people in other countries organise BBQ sizzles outside malls and big box retailers?
I know we do in New Zealand and Australia - its a kind of rite of passage if you have children in sports/dance/etc clubs needing to raise money. Everybody takes their turn and understanding that, we buy a sausage when we walk past.
Since this is a poll, more or less, move to IMHO (from Cafe Society).
US, Lived in the south, the midwest, and the East Coast: no. I’ve also never heard a grill called a “sizzle” though the meaning is kind of obvious.
There’s a certain tradition, in some areas, of volunteer firefighters and churches raising money with dinners . But those are usually held at the firehouse/church. And there’s no unified or traditional menu (fried chicken, pig roast, and ham&oyster are all popular in areas where I’ve lived, but it would very by ethnicity and habits of the local populace)
The only fundraisers outside big box stores you normally see are Girl Scouts during cookie season, and, when I lived in the midwest, there were sometimes car washes featuring scantily clad high school cheerleaders.
No. Not really. Typically the girl scouts with cookies, as mentioned. The most popular fund-raising is selling raffle tickets with first, second and third type prizes of cash and or promotional items donated by various groups or stores. Usually these people hang out in grocery stores, not malls or big box stores.
ETA: Although that sausage looks good, I’m confused as to why you wouldn’t use a bun. We only use bread for something like this at home when we run out of buns.
I associate that kind of fund raising with car washes.
It’s not the kind of thing most places would allow. Girl scouts and Salvation Army bell ringers maybe, but something going on in the parking lot with fire would give them liability concerns. Stuff like this might happen at schools or fire stations as noted above.
Nope. I’ve seen Girl Scouts selling cookies outside malls, in parking lots and from tables set up on commercial streets and sometimes other groups selling Christmas trees or wreaths or raffle tickets the same way. But food- nope. As mentioned before, I’ve seen groups hold pancake breakfasts, fish frys, spaghetti dinners in their own space or a donated space ( a church or VFW might run their own fundraiser or allow a school to use theri space). I’ve seen Applebee’s , which does not normally serve breakfast allow non-profits to organize fundraising breakfasts where the non-profit provides volunteers to perform every job outside of the kitchen and pays Applebee’s a few dollars per meals while charging a higher price for tickets. I’ve even seen designated registers at McDonald’s where all profits from that register are donated to some organization. But not grilling food in the parking lot of a mall or store.
Never seen anything like that near a mall or big box store around here. Churches and possibly schools might have outdoor fund-raising dinners, but I can’t think of any other time I’ve seen it.
In the Southern US, BBQ was traditionally used as a way to entice people into attending political stump speeches. It still exists to this day, for example, the Harkin Iowa Steak Fry that Hillary famously attended this year to prepare for her presidential run.
I’m going to be the dissenting opinion here and say: of course! In both the south (Oklahoma) and north/midwest (Wisconsin) these are incredibly common, and I can’t believe that there are nothing but “No” replies! Granted, I’ve not seen it at shopping malls, but big box stores and chain grocery stores have brat and hot dog frys or bake sales almost every weekend in the summer, plus one or two Chicken-Qs (barbecued chicken for the uninitiated). I worked my fair share of them in high school to raise funds for one extracurricular or another.
US - PA. I see a few hot dog cookouts every year around malls and big box stores as well as some larger supermarkets. Usually some kids charity such as Little League or Girl Scouts. One mall used to have a giant blow-out chicken BBQ by the local Lions Club but as the mall died, so did the event. I don’t know of any current ones.
In parts of the US, it’s certainly common enough.
I live up near Seattle and it doesn’t work at all. I’ve actually tried*. In fact, it’s kind of funny. People will walk by and the expression on their face seems to be a cross between “Cooking with fire? Don’t you know it *rains *here?” and “How can I be sure that’s not human flesh you’re cooking?” Or maybe it’s just the classic Seattle Freeze. Seriously, though, it’s like they’re offended that I’d like to give them a hot dog.
*I did it once in the context of working for a franchise based in Virginia that ordered every franchisee to do this at least once, with the food being free. Apparently, what works in VA doesn’t in WA. Another time as a nonprofit fundraiser connected to another event, where we were charging a small fee.
Seems like too much regulation and food safety issues would enter the picture in most places in the US. Little kids have their lemonade stands shut down and people aren’t allowed to have gardens in their own yards or feed the homeless. I can’t imagine trying to run a charity BBQ.
yeah, I’m a bit surprised at the answers so far as well. I spent many hours in front of grocery stores grilling brats and hot dogs to sell as a fundraiser when I was in high school. It’s totally normal and a part of the American Youth Experience.
Besides “taking your turn in the barrel” -
A host sanga on a cold Saturday morning can’t be beaten
Yup, this is common in Hawaii. Huli huli chicken, yum.
Never heard of it. But then, the whole concept of “raising money for the kids’ activities” doesn’t really exist here.
To expand on my answer above, for fundraising for school activities and the such, it was typically selling chocolate bars (specifically, the local brand World’s Finest Chocolate bars.) Or you might have a craft fair at the school, or a bake sale, or something like that, but that was usually handled by the parents. Judging by the answers, it appears to be very regional in the US, as I’d love to see grilled meats outside big box retailers and malls, and I’d be first in line for that! But, like I said, I’ve never actually seen such a thing here in the Chicagoland area. Just the damned chocolate. Or possibly raffle tickets.
In my area fundraisers in front of stores seem to be limited to Girl Scouts with cookies or Boy Scouts with popcorn.
However in the last couple places I’ve lived in the Southeast there are often commercial hot dog carts of food trucks in front of the stores.
This is my experience in the southeastern US as well.
Growing up in the midwest, organizations tended to have fish fries, hog roasts, pancake breakfasts and hillbilly hot dog sales in their own space though. Bake sales were also common in donated (non commercial) space too.