Labor Day has come and gone, but that doesn't mean your need for delicious smoked meat has to, at least not for the next couple of weeks.

What exactly am I talking about here? Our good friends at Smokin' Coop BBQ Pit in Belvidere are getting ready to close up shop for the 2021 season, but before they do they need our help doing something awesome for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

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I have not seen an official closing date appear on Smokin' Coop's website or Facebook yet, but a source close to the Smokin' Coop family did tell me that the last weekend of September will be the last hoorah for the 2021 season. That means you and I have A LOT of good eatin' to do in the next couple of weeks. Not only do we need to treat the family to some more delicious ribs and smoked pork before the season ends, but we should probably eat our weight in Klondike bars and Root Beer Floats while we still can. Why? Because Smokin' Coop will donate the proceeds from all Root Beer Float and Klondike bar sales to St. Jude, and of course we want that check to have several zeroes on it!

Now, let me tell you something even more awesome about Smokin' Coop BBQ Pit in Belvidere. For the past couple of years, the Smokin' Coop family has come to the radio station and presented a $5,000 check for St. Jude kids. Last year, thanks to COVID putting the kibosh on their weekly cruise nights, Smokin' Coop's owners decided to reach into their own pockets to donate the amount of money needed to get the check to their usual $5,000 amount. How awesome is that?!?

When the 2021 season at Smokin' Coop got underway, the owners started with the same goal of raising $5,000 for St. Jude, and they've hit it, but now they want to get more. This is where you and I come in. Could you pretty, please make a point to eat at Smokin' Coop over the next few weeks and not forget to order a whole bunch of Root Beer Floats and Klondike bars while you're there? We love Smokin' Coops' big, generous hearts, and we will really want to see them blow their donation record out the window in 2021, but that can't do it without you and your sweet tooth. Let's make it happen!

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