3rd Annual Times Supermarket BBQ Chicken Fundraiser on Maui

This past weekend we had the 3rd Annual Times Supermarket BBQ Chicken Fundraiser at the Kihei Times. My wife and I have been working behind the scenes for Baldwin High School sports for the past 7 years. My son played 4 years of football there and we volunteered early in his freshman year to fulfill a need. There didn’t seem to be anyone who wanted to help the program succeed. 

What We Learned About the Baldwin High Sports Program

We started from that point learning what it really took to run a sports program at a public school. We realized early on that neither the state nor the school AD had any money for this program.

• It costs an average of $600 per player to put a uniform on them.
• Every year the helmets and pads have to be shipped to the mainland to be inspected and new ones have to be purchased.
• Just a simple bus ride up the mountain to play another school costs over $1,000.
• Traveling to Oahu for a pre season game this year cost the football program over $11,000. Again, none of this money comes from the school. We have to raise it. There is an average of 60 players on the Varisity and JV teams x $600.

My wife and I realized once we started that if we didn’t continue running this program from the inside that the funds would just not come. This is her alma mater also (that might have something to do with her drive).

3rd Annual Times Supermarket BBQ Chicken Fundraiser

I was approached by the advertising exec from Times about doing this fundraiser between the 2 top teams on Maui. We share this with Lahainaluna. They do their BBQ on the West side on Maui.

This year we went down on Friday morning to build our fire pit right in the Times parking lot. We rented a condo right behind the store to stay in for the weekend because we know how much time this takes. We started our fire at 5am on Saturday morning.

Getting the fire and our custom made grills ready for 1,600 half chickens

We grilled for 6 hours Saturday. The chicken was great. Times Supermarket gets everything we sell donated and they treat us very well throughout the day. I’m very grateful for their generosity. Between the cheerleaders, band, and football team we were able to make almost $10,000.

Kiawe wood gets very hot

Ready to go

Taking a break from the heat and sun

Volunteering with the Baldwin High Sports Program

My wife and I also run the concession stands at every football game throughout the year. We do all the ordering of food, shopping, and cooking. We have parents help us with the workload every week; they must sign up on a calender at the beginning of the year. This is how I spent at least 20 hours a week of my time throughout the year.