It was a MASSIVE turnout.

bigloco1 - Today was amazing. So many people did what you did. Don't know the exact number but we served over 1,200 plates. Today just confirmed that we live in an awesome community. I never expected the number that we had. Thanks so much everyone.

[This message has been edited by TLIAC (edited 2/19/2010 5:40p).]

We want to thank everyone who helped today. We really appreciate all the hands that were on deck.

Some neat facts about today.

1) There were 10 cases (120 briskets) allocated for the event. We went through every bit of it!! We want to thank C&J BBQ and Ruffino Meats for helping us buy those.

2) Justin Manning with C&J smoked all of them for us. (Cause he knows his bbq and we at EccellGroup don't)

3) Cody Blount with CSFD and Patrick Mcarthy with CSPD quaterbacked the deal with us and coordinated foodservice and funding with us. A big thanks to those two gentleman for their time.

4) At least 4 trips to Sam's that I know of because we ran out of product! (I did two myself, so maybe there were more) lol

5) There were various other contributors, so numerous that I don't even know. I know Raymond Olsen with CSFD did beans. I know J Cody's had a hand in it, and I apologize that I don't know more. Cody Blount may be able to post more of the names as he was the insider on the whole deal.

6) I personally saw so many people from different backgrounds, and that was so very encouraging.

7) I met Tracy Sheets. She has a very kind demeanor and you can tell she is a very genuine person.

8) All in all, the mood there was so positive and friendly. It was so encouraging to see so many people focus on one thing with such a giving approach.

Today, I was really proud of our community.

Thanks again to everyone who helped us out and our best wishes go to Tracy.

Thank You. Costa Dallis CEO EccellGroup

KBTX reports today that over $17,000 was raised on Friday.

A TREMENDOUS thank you to all those who came out and supported us yesterday. For those of you who couldn't make it out, the line was into the parking lot all day, and we served somewhere in the neighborhood of 1200 plates.

Several firemen have large barbecue pits, and this actually began as "hey, let's get a few briskets donated, stay up all night cooking them, and see if we can sell a few plates to raise some money for a friend and fellow public servant." My apologies for the brisket on Friday during Lent as someone mentioned; that hadn't crossed my mind. The date was chosen based upon "enough time to publicize it properly but not too far away" and on the day of the week and shift rotations.

Within a couple of days of discussing it, Costa and the Eccell Group picked up sponsorship, Justin Manning from C&J Barbecue jumped on board, and Carter Hall from Chick-Fil-A got involved.

We tried to make sure our sponsors got recognized beforehand, but we had sponsors rolling in until the last minute, and at some point we had to cut off the list that we could publicize prior to the event. That being said, here is the final list of sponsors, as it was given to me:

C&J BBQ, The Eccell Group, JCody's BBQ, Slovacek Sausage, Readfield Meats, Chick-Fil-A, Academy, Briarcrest Cleaners, The Hub, Fling Jewelry, The Nest Bed & Breakfast, Craig Scasta, Advanced Security Concepts, Texas Bike Patrol Systems, & Team TexStar Graphics.

This is the latest list I have of our sponsors... If I have left anyone off, I apologize, but it became hard to track so many sponsors, donations and services. A final note about the sponsors for this event: we did not call to solicit any donations or sponsorship... each of those named contacted US and volunteered their items, services, finance, expertise, and time.

Again, thank you so much for your support; it really means a great deal when the community that we take great pride in serving comes out to support us.

Hello everyone, its Tracy Sheets. I just wanted to say Thank You to everyone....sponsors, organizers and the community. I've always know what a great community I live and work in but was unbelievably touched by all of the support and my family was blown away.

I am very luck that my city and worker's comp are being great and my medical bills are covered. It is a big relief to have help, thanks to this benefit, to take care of all those other expenses related to my injuries that have and will come up over the course of time.

It was great to see everyone and watch the community come together. I was often left speechless as I looked at the crowd (and TLIAC can tell you that is so rare!).

Thanks hardly seems to cover it but THANK YOU BCS!

AMEN