Battle of the BBQS raises $46, 500 for the Shalom Food Pantry

From left, Chanie Simon, co-director Shalom Food Pantry and Bethlehem Chabad; committee members, Lianne Wladis, Victoria Goldberg, Jennifer Wind; winning team from Congregation Beth Abraham-Jacob, Sam Sonnenberg, Bob Crystal, Jeff Dittus, Rob Kasper, Rabbi Kean; committee members, Adam Rosen, Jeremy Kassel; Rabbi Zalman Simo, co-director Shalom Food Pantry and Bethlehem Chabad; and committee member Elana Kamenir.

The 7th annual Battle of the BBQS competition on Sunday, June 30, event raised $46,500 for the Shalom Food Pantry, assisting in its mission to fight food insecurity locally, according to Chanie Simon co-director of the Shalom Food pantry.

She reported that 640 community members attended the friendly competition and that the first-place winners were Abe’s and Jake’s team representing Congregation Beth Abraham-Jacob of Albany. The team was led by Sam Sonnenberg.

2nd place team from Bethlehem Chabad: Eliana Rosen, Ben Sosnovsky, Sam Fein, and Sam Sosnovsky.

Organizers report that the teams participating in this year’s event battled stormy weather an hour before kick off time and then navigated the high heat of the rest of the day. The teams participating in this year’s event came from across the region. Teams represented the Jewish Federation of Northeastern New York Young Adult Division, Congregation Beth Emeth Brotherhood, Congregation Shomrei Torah, Congregation Beth Abraham-Jacob, Congregation Gates of Heaven, Bethlehem Chabad, Congregation Ohav Shalom and the Hebrew Academy of the Capital District.

3nd place team from Shomrei Torah: Devorah Sussman, Michael Caras, Ephraim Sherman, and Shaya Shpielman

Participants were invited to enjoy a variety of BBQ flavors with each team creating their own unique chicken wings, rib-eye steak, and portobello mushroom recipes. Children’s activities included facepainting, pony rides, rock climbing, and entertainment by Seano from Circus Theatricks, A beer tasting station was available for adults, The Battle of the BBQS event was planned by the event committee, Lianne Wladis, Victoria Goldberg, Roberta Fuhrman, Elana Kamenir, Jeremy Kassel and Jennifer Windand was led by was led by steering committee members Adam Rosen, Jessica Richer, Lauren Iselin, and Peter Rosenfeld.

The date for the 8th annual Battle of the BBQS has been announced for Sunday, June 22, 2025.