Alphonso McClendon Sr., an organizer of the Union Gospel Mission's third annual Labor Day free barbecue fundraiser event, poses for a photo Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017, at Union Gospel Mission in Chattanooga, Tenn. The barbecue will be held at New Haven Baptist Church and Friendship Baptist Church on Sept. 4, 2017, and Union Gospel Mission's goal is to raise $7,500 to fund residential programs. Two years after the Union Gospel Mission sat on the verge of closing due its financial needs, executive director Jon Rector remembers spending days agonizing about an upcoming barbecue and the possible outcomes for the organization if the fundraiser wasn't profitable.
Then he had a revelation.
"It's as if the Lord spoke to me and said, 'You know you are a nonprofit organization. Quit worrying about stuff and give it away,'" said Rector.
The Union Gospel Mission hosted its first barbecue fundraiser over Labor Day weekend in 2015. They gave away every bite and generated nearly $120,000, which included a donation of land.
Rector recalled those beginnings as he prepared to continue the tradition with the third annual Labor Day Free BBQ Fundraiser, scheduled 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday.
The money supports the mission and men in the faith-based residential program as they overcome addictions.
If you go
› What: Union Gospel Mission’s third annual Labor Day Free BBQ Fundraiser.› When: 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday.› Where: New Haven Baptist Church, 1058 Graysville Road (at East Brainerd Road) and Friendship Baptist Church, 1005 Gadd Road (at Highway 153).› Website: www.theuniongospelmission.org.
"(Rector) helps men with broken lives and tries to get them back on their feet," said Scott Harrington, who will be among the volunteers serving food on Labor Day.
For the first time, the fundraiser will operate at two locations: at New Haven Baptist Church, at the intersection of East Brainerd Road and Graysville Road, and at Friendship Baptist Church, at the intersection of Gadd Road and Highway 153 in Hixson.
Everybody is welcome. People donate what they can, said Rector.
The menu includes pulled pork, chicken, baked beans, coleslaw, bread, dessert and drink. Everything is homemade.
It was in 2013 when Rector sent out a plea for help stating that the mission needed $50,000 to $100,000 to continue. Donors answered the call. But just two years after the mission's finances became stable, Rector said God told him to host his first Labor Day barbecue fundraiser by giving food away.
He said he stopped worrying about money after that.
"We give barbecue away and have a good time and let the Lord bless as he sees fit," he said.
He wants to raise $7,500 this year to offset the usual decline in mail-in donations during summer.
The mission gets most of its operating money through mail-in contributions, but donations routinely drop in July and August. The mission gets nearly 70 percent of its budget from October through December, said Rector.
The first year, he worked with churches and nonprofits to provide the dinner so it didn't come out of the mission's budget. Those who took a plate were asked only to donate what they could. Some took a plate and gave nothing. Others donated $100.
The biggest donation during the fundraiser came when the mission property owner donated the land. The contribution was worth $110,000.
The former mission property owner donated the site eight years after Highland Park Baptist Church sold the previous Main Street location in 2007. The sale forced the mission to relocate to its current location at the foot of Signal Mountain. The mission also cut ties with Highland Park Baptist Church and became an independent 501(c)(3).
The mission had operated on Main Street for more than 30 years before it had to move in 2008. Rector said he's "thrilled" to own the property near Signal Mountain and know that the Union Gospel Mission cannot be made to leave its site again.
"This allows us to be the captains of our own future," he said.
Alphonso McClendon is among nearly a dozen men who live at the site. He said the Union Gospel Mission helped him find a new life.
He was homeless for three years before coming to the mission. He enrolled in the Grace program that helped him overcome his alcohol addiction and get a plan for housing. Instead of contemplating suicide, McClendon seeks to help other homeless men.
"This has caused me to reach deep down in myself and find a reason to live," he said.
Throughout the year, the mission serves about 15,000 meals and provides about 5,000 safe nights of sleep, said Rector. He talked as the smell of sweet tangy barbecue filled the building as meat for the barbecue cooked in the mission's oven.
Contact Yolanda Putman at yputman@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6431.