Canadian-inspired bear meat chili, kickin’ hot, French American with a touch of bourbon, sombrero chili, even chili on a stick. Local cooks stepped up their creativity and kicked up the heat a little for a good cause Wednesday at the 7th Annual Chili Challenge.
The event, held the first Wednesday of March each year, raised $12,189 for the Hubbard County Food Shelf.
The Chili Challenge kicks off local fundraising efforts for the food shelf as part of Minnesota FoodShare Month.
"This is such an excellent event," said Bob Hansen, who took over as director of the Hubbard County Food Shelf just this year. "I think it’s an indication of what people want to do to support the community."
The over $12,000 raised locally on Wednesday is a lot more than just "seed money" to help the food shelf, Hansen said. March is the biggest month for fundraising because the state allocates funds to food shelf organizations based on local efforts. It’s not a matching fund but the state looks at how much is raised locally and allocates accordingly, based on a funding formula.
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"This is a great kickoff to the month, the volume of turnout today is unbelievable," Hansen said during the Chili Challenge. "It’s great to see the support."
Cooks entered 24 pots of chili this year with team names primarily based on businesses and organizations like: "Chillin’ Chili Sisters," "Bearly Chili, eh?," "Workin’ Women’s Chili," "Hot on the Trail," "Chili Chili Bank Bank" and "Bad Axe Chicken Chili".
"This is for such a good cause," said Kirsten Kisner of Riverside United Methodist Church.
Kisner pointed out the "Bearly Chili, eh?" next to her was drawing a lot of attention. First-timers participating in the challenge, Kristen Patterson and Jerry Warmbold were the cooks behind that concoction featuring meat from a bear Jerry shot in Canada. And they turned up the heat a little.
"People seem to like it. It’s a little spicy… got some funny looks," Patterson said. "We thought it was mild so we may have misled people."
This was the second year for Kisner and her Riverside United Methodist Church team. She had a great time visiting with folks as they sampled their way through the chili line.
"When we realized so many churches were here us Methodists had to get with the program," she joked. "This is fabulous. It’s for a great cause, not to mention we have such a great time with the social aspect."
This was the third year participating for Jon Lanz of the Park Rapids Fire Department and he says he’ll definitely be back next year.
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"They seem to like it," he said of the "Bad Axe Chicken Chili", they keep coming back."
Lanz said he enjoys cooking the chili, meeting the people and seeing their faces, as well as "giving each other a hard time back here."
Top money raisers
Calvary Lutheran Church raised the most money with its "Minnesota State Fair Chili on a Stick" bringing in $2,535. "Devilicious" by Hubbard County Coalition of Lake Associations brought in $2,054 and "Lions Pride" by the Nevis Lions was third with a $1,553 total.
People’s Favorite
Each person at the Chili Challenge had the opportunity to cast one vote for their favorite chili and this year’s top honor goes to entry #14 "Mike’s Famous Chili" by Mike Wheeler, Heartland Homes.
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