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The 7th annual Bakken BBQ was held in Dickinson, ND and brought together over 3,000 energy community members for a family-friendly fundraising event for Make A Wish North Dakota.

This year the event offered a BBQ Cook Off competition, live music, a live auction with an auctioneer, a kiddie area with games, and lots of prizes.

The founders, Jackie Schmidt and Tiffany Steiner, had no idea the event would grow to the size it has. Astonished by the continued growth each year, they reached out to individuals in the community to join the Bakken BBQ committee. The committee has 15 incredible members who dedicate their time and energy in planning the event.

“The Bakken BBQ is successful because of the committee, sponsorships, donations and donated services, volunteers, Make-A-Wish North Dakota, and the community,” said Tiffany Steiner, Co-founder of Bakken BBQ. “There’s so much work that goes into these events, it really becomes an emotional event that really connects with the community.”

This year, the BBQ raised $100,000, which is $40,000 more than last year. Since 2013 the Bakken BBQ has raised over $400,000 for Relay for Life and Make-A-Wish ND.

“Make a wish has touched our hearts, we met the wish families, we have been involved in make a wish and it’s an amazing organization. We get to see where the money goes and also how the money is used. It is amazing to see kids who wished to go to Disney World, SeaWorld, Europe and wherever they want to go,” said Jackie Jenkin, Co-Founder of Bakken BBQ.

Each year, the Bakken BBQ proudly presents Make-A-Wish ND with a big symbolic check from the event, this year, however, was not like the past years.

“Last night was a little different as we lost a special little girl in our community days ago. Grace was only nine years old but impacted our community and shared with us the true meaning in life,” Steiner said. “The Bakken BBQ donated $100,000 to Make-A-Wish North Dakota in honor of Grace Bittner. A big thank you to the Bakken BBQ committee, companies, sponsors, volunteers, and our community for supporting us year after year.”

For more information on the 2020 Bakken BBQ, visit www.facebook.com/BBQ4Cause.

Author Profile

Jason Spiess

Contributor - The Crude Life Content Network

Jason Spiess is a multimedia journalist, entrepreneur and content consultant. Spiess has over 25 years of media experience in broadcasting, journalism, reporting and principal ownership in media companies. (Over 30 years experience if you count his adolescent years as a newspaper delivery boy learning the importance and logistics of daily distribution and monthly door-to-door bill collecting.) Spiess has worked in the areas of oil and gas, UAS and precision agriculture, health care, cannabis, agriculture, real estate, government affairs and economic development. Spiess is the host of two radio programs, Building the Bakken and Coffee & Capitalism, and three specialty programs, MonDak OilField Review, Corporate Ink and UnStuck, that carry a radio network that spans five states and two countries. Spiess is a North Dakota native and graduated from North Dakota State University.