Grillin’ for Healing is a BBQ cook-off fundraiser for The Hearts and Hands Clinic in Statesboro, GA. The event will be held on Saturday, March 26, 2022 and will be located at 1788 Akins Pond Road. This will be a family-friendly event with bounce houses, great BBQ, and live music throughout the day.
The event, organized by East Georgia Regional Medical Center Surgeon Dr. John Allen, Vice President of Citizens Bank of the South Matthew “PK” Huling, and Hearts & Hands Clinic Manager Kara Holland, has been a testament to locals helping locals.
The entrance to the event will be through the side gate to the property on Jerry Hall Road, a dirt road that’s just south of the house. There will be signs both on Akins Pond Road as well as Jerry Hall Road marking the entrance. There will be people directing parking. Only teams cooking in the competition may arrive before 10 a.m. Everyone is welcome from 10 a.m. on.
The music lineup consisting of local talent Miranda Winter, Jacob Beltz, Daniel Navarro, Brent Stephens, and The Ripleys will take the stage starting at 11 a.m., going until the event’s conclusion at 9 p.m.
Judging for the event are: Mary Beth Brown of Dolan’s Bar B Que, Stacy Underwood of Uncle Shug’s Bar-B-Q Place, AJ Jetwani of Tandoor & Tap, Cederick Richardson of Rusty Pig BBQ, and Jared Benko of Georgia Southern Athletics.
“Never thought in a million years I would have to come this route for assistance.” – Current medical patient
The Hearts & Hands Clinic
The Hearts & Hands Clinic provides free medical care and prescription medication to low-income, uninsured men and women living in Bulloch County. All medical patients are ineligible for Medicaid and Medicare and live at or below the Federal Poverty Guidelines. To qualify, patients must have a chronic condition such as diabetes, hypertension, seizure disorders, COPD, or asthma. Without consistent medical care and prescription medication, these diseases are life-threatening.
Thirteen primary care doctors and nurse practitioners from our community volunteer at the clinic. An additional 55 local medical specialists, dentists, and healthcare organizations volunteer their services. The ultimate goal of The Hearts & Hands Clinic and its volunteers is to stabilize health for adult residents of Bulloch County to ready them for a job search.
In 2021, Hearts & Hands provided over 2,400 medical appointments to more than 500 patients. As the economic impact of COVID-19 continues to impact our community, the need for healthcare assistance continues to grow.
Financial support raised from Grillin’ for Healing will be used to provide medical care to new patients from Bulloch County. Medical care consists of lab draws, nursing visits, dental care, women’s health, primary medical care, specialty referrals, and chronic care education. In addition, it will provide money for free prescription medication to patients such as diabetic supplies, insulin, blood pressure medication, and inhalers. The Hearts & Hands Clinic neither prescribes nor stores narcotic medication and does not provide pain
