Next month, Odessa Meals on Wheels will return for the 23rd edition of its famous Mudbug fundraiser with some changes from previous installations.
This year’s event is scheduled for April 11 at Barn G of the Ector County Coliseum, which is where the event has usually taken place.
However, what will be different this year is that Meals on Wheels of Odessa will be taking some of the pressure of putting on the event off their backs.
This year, Meals on Wheels will be partnering with Big Daddy’s to provide the catfish and shrimp and hushpuppies.
“We’ve taken the pressure off ourselves,” Meals on Wheels of Odessa Executive Director Craig Stoker said. “We don’t have to cook everything ourselves anymore and that makes everyone happy. We have that covered with Big Daddy’s. We have a group from Oil Works who go down, buy all the crawfish, they come back and start cooking. It’s fresh caught. We’re excited to have them back.”
Stoker recently took over as the Executive Director of Odessa Meals on Wheels and is looking forward to being a part of this year’s Mudbug.
“It’s my first time,” Stoker said. “I’m excited to take over the longstanding fundraiser for a great organization like Meals on Wheels and it’s been fun to work with the board and committee on a new event for me. I’m excited that the community has already responded. We’ve had great sales already. The invitations went out just last week.”
Some of the changes to this year’s Mudbug came after meeting with the board.
“We sat down and talked about what this event should look like,” Stoker said. “They said last year, we had to cook all the fish and make everything including the tartar sauce and the red sauce. I said, I’ll bet we can call Big Daddy’s and see what they can do for us…. That takes a lot off our plates. We have more time this year to working the crowd and meeting our supporters and getting a chance to interact instead of putting them behind a fish fryer.”
As far as entertainment goes, Stoker says they will bring in a DJ this year for the event.
“Hopefully in the future, we can do a big band,” Stoker said. “I feel like this event can grow into a good party. But this year, we’re sticking with what we know.”
There won’t be a silent or live auction but Stoker says they will be doing a raffle.
“We’ll be selling the raffle tickets up to the event. We’ve got a purse, a $2,000 gun and a special consultation where someone gets to design their own jewelry with Isy’s and get an $8,000 store credit,” Stoker said. “They can make whatever they want.”
The Meals on Wheels of Odessa last year raised around $140,000 from the Mudbug. Stoker is confident of meeting this year’s goal of $200,000.
“The way it’s going this year, I’m expecting us to raise over $200,000,” Stoker said. “That’s our goal.”
For more information about this year’s Mudbug, go to tinyurl.com/37zvb4ec.
If you go
- What: Meals on Wheels of Odessa annual Mudbug Fundraiser.
- When: 5:30 p.m. April 11.
- Where: Ector County Coliseum (Barn G).
- Where to purchase tickets: tinyurl.com/2vdj47r8
