Piggly Wiggly, Johnsonville Sausage offering free meals at hurricane relief event

Johnsonville Sausage and The Original Piggly Wiggly are offering a free meal to the public along with an opportunity to help Lenoir County hurricane victims.

On Oct. 24 from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m., the 20ft tall, 65ft long Johnsonville Big Taste Grill will be grilling up free bratwurst for the public. The event takes place in the parking lot of The Original Piggly Wiggly on U.S. 70 East, Kinston (next to King's restaurant).

Each bratwurst will be served with free chips and soda.

The Big Taste Grill boasts a 6,000-pound lid with an 8-ft handle that is opened using a hydraulic system, giving access to 440,000 BTUs, which is needed to grill the 1/2 ton of Johnsonville Brats held in the on board fridge. The grill can cook 2,500 brats an hour or 750 bratwursts at a time on its 40-square feet of grilling surface. 

Original Piggly Wiggly owner William Wilder says his store was shut down by Hurricane Florence.

"We were closed for 19 days due to Hurricane Florence," Wilder said. "The severity of the damage was similar to that of Hurricane Matthew."

All food and beverages at the event will be provided for free by Johnsonville Sausage and The Original Piggly Wiggly.

Donation jars will be present at the event for anyone who'd like to make a donation to the Lenoir County hurricane relief effort. Johnsonville Sausage and The Original Piggly Wiggly will be making monetary donations as well.

"We're happy to be part of anything we can do to help our community," Wilder said. 

The Johnsonville Big Taste Grill is a perennial fixture at events such as the Super Bowl, the Boston Marathon and various NASCAR events, just to name a few.