In an effort to help save BBQ joints from closing, Kingsford  Charcoal has launched the #TogetherWithBBQ program, which will provide financial contributions of up to $250,000 to pit masters across the country to help them keep the flames ablaze. The first recipient of a $10,000 donation is L.A. pit master Kevin Bludso of Bludso’s Bar & Que.

Kingsford will identify 25 U.S. restaurant recipients in need and contribute up to $10,000 each.

“When we first talked to the Kingsford team, they  said there were so many places in consideration, but Bludso’s was on the top of the list because they were familiar with our story and knew that we would pay if forward,” Bludso tells L.A. Weekly, as his location in Hollywood is surviving the pandemic with a steady takeaway business. “Whatever we give right now will come back to us tenfold. That donation is coming in and going right back out. We need it but there are many who need it much more than us.

Bludso and partner James Starr are working with Dine11, the nonprofit organization that’s currently delivering meals to healthcare workers and first responders, as well as the pit master’s Faith Inspirational Missionary Baptist Church community in Compton, where the original BBQ shack opened and has since closed.

“The black community has been hit hard by COVID-19,” Bludso says. “I don’t give to be blessed, I am blessed, so I give.”

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Grilled vegetables (Michele Stueven)

Additionally, with avid grillers spending more time at home, Kingsford has also implemented realtime responses for its #GrillWhatYouGot program to help curate recipes using ingredients readily available at home. Home chefs can submit the ingredients they have in the fridge and pantry to the Kingsford social media platforms for recipe ideas.

Try these two for coffee-rubbed pork medallions with BBQ butter and a grilled peaches and cream pizza with salted caramel for summer: kingsford.com/recipe/grilled-peaches-and-cream-pizza-with-salted-caramel; kingsford.com/recipe/coffee-rubbed-pork-medallions-with-bbq-butter.

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