By Luke Darnell, MABA President and Pitmaster of Old Virginia Smoke

BBQ Gives Back was a rousing start to the beginning of the MABA season, and sure didn’t disappoint. The weather wasn’t too bad for the end of March, but was still chilly. Teams from all over MABA-land flocked into Bethpage Campground to try their hand at three different interconnected contests…BBQ Gives Back, The Virginia Grands, and the MABA Cup Championship.

Bill and Mary Jones, and all of their volunteers, have really created a great contest to start off the season in the mid atlantic. Each year this contest gets better and better, and each year generates more and more money for Operation BBQ Relief.

Congrats to the winner of the MABA Cup Championship, Lo-n-Slo BBQ, representing the good state of Pennsylvania!

Congrats to the winner of the Virginia Grands Championship, and the Grand Champion of BBQ Gives Back, Who Cares BBQ!

Also, we’d be remiss if we didn’t give a shout out to Pigheaded BBQ on a hard fought RGC. Great job Ron and team.

Keep your eyes on this event, as it promises to get bigger and better in the next year!

Full KCBS results here.