The Boys and Girls Club of El Dorado will be hosting its first-ever Food Truck Festival this Saturday, with hopes to raise funds for the Club.
“With COVID and everything kind of happening this year, everybody had to get a little bit creative with fundraisers and events they typically do, so we tried to come up with something that was COVID-friendly,” said Victoria Hollis, BGCE director of marketing and development.
From 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Saturday, May 15, the BGCE parking lot will be host to eight food trucks from Union County and around the region, including SnoShack; the Original Abe’s Ole’ Feed House; Pupp’s BBQ; Smack Yo’ Mama Burgers, Po’Boys, Loaded Fries and More; Oh, How Sweet Cotton Candy; the Arkansas Heart Hospital Food Truck; Kaseedilla; and Mortuary BBQ.
“The Arkansas Heart Hospital Food Truck, they are coming and they are going to be doing ramen bowls,” Hollis said. “Pupp’s BBQ will be donating proceeds to us.”
Also at the festival will be a host of games and activities for children and adults.
“We are planning on having some yard games, like some giant Jenga and Connect Four and chalk — sidewalk chalk — for the kids as well,” Hollis said. “We’ll also have the Kilt – Axe Throwing with their mobile unit set up.”
The primary fundraiser will be a cornhole tournament that the BGCE is putting on. Cornhole is similar to Baggo; it involves tossing a beanbag into a hole on an angled board.
“We actually have a sponsor for our cornhole tournament, and because of that, we are able to set a $500 minimum first place prize,” Hollis said.
Both the first and second place winner will receive a cash prize, thanks to sponsors Ken’s Discount Building Materials and Blackmon’s Furniture and Appliances.
Hollis said those who would like to participate in the tournament are encouraged to pre-register by calling 870-863-8753 or emailing [email protected]. The cost to participate is $25 per person, with participants required to play in teams of two.
Proceeds from the tournament will benefit the Boys and Girls Club of El Dorado. Hollis said they don’t have a specific fundraising goal in mind this year.
“We have such a generous and giving community here, and we’re so lucky to be in El Dorado,” Hollis said. “With it being our first time trying to do something like this, we’re hoping this could be a thing we do every year, so in future years we’ll have a better idea of how much money can be raised from this.”
Bearing the ongoing pandemic in mind, Hollis said the BGCE building will be open so that festival attendees can use the bathrooms, but all of the Food Truck Festival activities will be held outdoors, in the parking lot, to allow for social distancing.
There will also be hand sanitizing stations on-site, she said, and tables will be sanitized between uses.
“We felt like it was a relatively safe fundraiser we could do that would still be fun for the community,” Hollis said.
The Food Truck Festival will be held at the Boys and Girls Club parking lot at 1201 N. West Ave. in El Dorado from 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Saturday. Admission is free.
For more information, call 870-863-8753 or visit eldoradokids.org.