St. John’s Holy Smokes announced

St. John’s Ministries is pleased to announce the birth of St. John’s Holy Smokes. We have partnered with Leadership Green Bay on this project for community building and relations. Leadership Green Bay has provided all fundraising efforts to make this a reality for the guests of St. Johns Ministries.

“We are grateful for the work everyone from Leadership Green Bay did to make this project a reality,” said Rob Frazier, associate executive director. “They raised all of the funds needed to purchase the smoker and everything needed to get this started. I am excited because smoking meats is a passion of mine and this will be a great way to connect St. John’s Ministries with the community.”

Leadership Green Bay was formed in 1985 to give young entrepreneurial professionals an opportunity to grow within the community. The goal is to expose participants to various areas of the community, challenge their thinking and inspire them to get involved in improving the quality of life for everyone in the community. Teams work on a project that benefits the community to raise awareness, solve a community issue, or help meet the needs of a nonprofit organization.

“Our Leadership Green Bay group was immediately drawn to the mission and the people of St. John’s Ministries,” said Allison Thiry, marketing specialist at Immel Construction. “It was clear from our first meeting with St. John’s staff that there was a group of talented and passionate people that would care for this project for years to come. The Holy Smokes BBQ smoker trailer project was a creative vision to give St. John’s guests the opportunity to learn new skills and utilize them at public events within our community, and our group could not pass up the chance to be a part of it.

“Working with St. John’s on fundraising and perfecting the logistics of this project over the last few months has continued to drive our motivation and confidence. We couldn’t be more excited to see St. John’s Holy Smokes BBQ smoker trailer in action this summer. This experience has opened our group’s eyes to the importance of raising awareness around homelessness. To many in Green Bay and Brown County, homelessness isn’t a visible issue. Our continued collaboration with St. John’s to get guests out in the community to serve delicious smoked meats is a small part in spreading awareness about homelessness right here in our community.”

What is the mission of St. Johns Holy Smokes?
• Our homeless guests will have the opportunity to learn a culinary art they will be able to take with them after they leave St John’s.
• We want our homeless guests to receive exposure in the community so there is a positive impact and the stigma surrounding homelessness is diminished. We are hoping the community will view them as viable members of society.
• Be able to share with the community the value of Leadership Green Bay and how its mission has added value to the lives of our homeless and the community.
• The greater Green Bay community will be able to interact with homeless guests at the same time learn a skill in the fifth-largest industry in Wisconsin. A goal of this project would be for us to be a pipeline of trained and service-ready associates for the Green Bay foodservice industry.
• Bringing the community together over a great plate of smoked BBQ meat and incorporating our homeless as valued members of society.