OIL CITY, Pa. (EYT) — One local business is tossing out a line and asking for support from area residents to provide funding for an upcoming ‘Take A Soldier Fishing Day and BBQ Dinner’ event.

Red Valley BBQ of Oil City is one of the main sponsors involved in the upcoming event and owner Sean Moffatt, is seeking donations to make the occasion special for each soldier participating.

“Some of the pitmasters involved are veterans, but others are doing it because we want to give back to our soldiers for protecting our freedoms,” Moffatt said. “After talking to a couple of the organizers of the event last year at a competition, my wife and I felt this was something we wanted to become involved with. Having never been in the military myself, I wanted to do this as a way of saying thank you.”

The ‘Take A Soldier Fishing Day’ will be held on April 26, and is an event for the soldiers of Fort Drum, N.Y. Members of the New York Bass Federation take soldiers fishing for the day on Oneida Lake, N.Y. Afterwards, the soldiers are prepared meals by professional competition barbecue teams. Teams from New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Canada will be participating.

“The teams are donating their time and equipment to make the dinner a success, but we are raising funds to purchase the food necessary to feed our men and women in uniform as well as other expenses associated with this event,” Moffatt said.

Moffatt has set up a fundraising website for donations, anyone interested in helping fun the event can visit: https://www.gofundme.com/FishingSoldiers.
A Facebook page has also been created as a means of information and event pictures https://www.facebook.com/FishingSoldiers.