Grilling for a great cause

The Permian Basin Rehabilitation Center will be hosting its annual “Great American Steakout” fundraiser later this month.

The event is scheduled 6 p.m. Sept. 30 at La Hacienda Event Center between Midland and Odessa.

The top cook-off teams will be grilling up a steak dinner, complete with all the trimmings for the guests at the event.

“The Great American Steakout is one of two fundraisers that we have during the fall,” Director of Development for the Permian Basin Rehab Center Shannon Adams said. “It happens every year. We typically have about 20 cooking teams that volunteer to come out and cook steaks for our guests. The rest of dinner is provided by The Barn Door and La Margarita. It’s a fundraiser where we are hoping to raise funds for our program. But it’s also kind of a party. It’s a ‘thank you’ to our constituents for supporting us throughout the year. It’s a celebration and it’s a lot of fun.”

The event wasn’t held in-person last year due to COVID.

Because of COVID, this year’s event will see fewer guests than in the past.

“Typically, there are a thousand guests that come out and have dinner,” Adams said. “This year, we are going with smaller numbers because we’re trying to be conscientious of COVID. We’ve paired it down this year. This year, we’re expecting about 700 guests. We use the La Hacienda events center. This year, by pairing down our numbers, we’re going to have tables separated by six feet apart.”

Funds raised at this year’s event will support the Permian Basin Rehab Center’s Sponsorship Program that benefits its patients.

The evening’s event will also include live and silent auctions with live music provided by the band “Current 9.”

Twenty volunteer grill teams will cook steaks that have been donated by Bobby and Leona Cox of Rosa’s Café.

“We also have a raffle ticket portion of the evening where we raffle for some good prizes,” Adams said. “We’re just looking forward to it. We also use our volunteer base for the event. We use athletes from UTPB. We use some of the spirits squad and cheer team to come out and help. We expect about 150 volunteers and 700 guests. It’s a great evening and it’s a lot of fun. It raises great money for a good cause for our program.”

Adams said that this year’s fundraising goal is about $350,000.

“It fluctuates throughout the years,” Adams said. “Some years, we’ve raised as much as $400,000. We had a year that was about $300,000. The 348,000 is a good median of what we hope to achieve. Of course, this year, with less people in attendance, we’ll see but what it boils down to is that any amount raised will help the programs here at the rehab services and help provide therapy services for our patients.”

For more information about the event, contact Jacqueline Arellano at 432-332-8244 or email at [email protected]

More information can be found at tinyurl.com/2898f48f.

If you go

  • What: Great American Steakout.
  • Where: La Hacienda Event Center.
  • When: 6 p.m. Sept. 30.