Bobby Bones and Eddie made the news over the Kansas high school barbecue competition team that received support during Giving Tuesday.
One of Bobby's first Giving Tuesday donations went to the Kansas Barbecue Team after learning about the program through a message from the team's coach, Brooke Ward. He was intrigued by the idea of a barbecue team and appreciated that students were learning skills they could use throughout their lives. A news report from KSN in Wichita highlighted the team's journey to national competitions. In the report, Ward explained that she reached out to Bobby through Instagram, sharing her students' story. She said Bobby responded within 30 minutes and quickly offered to help financially. Bobby was surprised to learn a barbecue team existed and immediately wanted to support the students. He sent a donation after hearing about the program and its mission.
The news story also featured Eddie, who was included because of his passion for grilling and smoking food. During his interview, Eddie said it was amazing that a school offered a barbecue class. He shared that grilling had been part of his life since childhood because his father enjoyed it, and he had carried on the tradition. After hearing the segment, Eddie said it felt exciting to make the news and admitted he had never really thought about it before. Lunchbox critiqued Eddie's interview, saying Bobby sounded polished while Eddie appeared less prepared. Eddie responded that he was simply having a normal conversation about barbecue and pointed out that most people are not professional speakers. Bobby noted that none of them are perfect speakers and said it was unfair to focus on Eddie's delivery. Lunchbox also joked that the report focused heavily on Bobby and gave Eddie little credit. Eddie said he did not need recognition and was simply happy to have been part of the story.
The conversation then shifted to whether Eddie joined the effort because of his genuine interest in barbecue or because Bobby was already involved. Lunchbox suggested Eddie was following Bobby's lead, but Eddie disagreed. He explained that he chose to contribute because grilling is one of his personal interests. Bobby reminded the group that he had offered everyone the opportunity to contribute to the barbecue team, but Eddie was the only one who joined him. Eddie added that Lunchbox could have participated as well if he had wanted to... but he didn't.