Joseph Mitchell Memorial

🔥 HUGE THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO PURCHASED RAFFLE TICKETS! 🔥

Because of your incredible support, we were able to continue working toward our goal of providing 10 scholarships this year through the Joseph Mitchell Memorial. Every ticket purchased helped support future Fire, EMS, and Law Enforcement professionals pursuing their dreams of serving others.

We also want to congratulate our FOUR raffle winners from this past week! 🎉

Thank you to everyone who participated, donated, shared posts, and supported this mission.

A VERY special thank you goes out to:
🔴 87 Armory
🔴 Red Status Gunworks

for their generosity, support, and help making this raffle possible. We truly appreciate businesses that continue pouring back into the community and supporting future First Responders.

💛 Reminder: Scholarship Applications remain OPEN through July 31st!

🌐 Apply or learn more here:
www.josephmitchellmemorial.com

Thank you all for helping us continue Joseph’s legacy and support the next generation of First Responders.

💙 A Belated Happy National Police Week 💙

This past week, we honor and recognize the men and women in Law Enforcement who serve their communities with courage, sacrifice, and dedication every single day.

At the Joseph Mitchell Memorial, we are proud to support the next generation of First Responders — including those pursuing careers in Law Enforcement.

Thank you to every officer who answers the call, protects others, misses holidays with family, works long nights, and continues showing up even when the job is difficult.

Your service does not go unnoticed.

We especially want to recognize and thank the departments and officers who supported our first annual First Responder BBQ Cook-Off this year. Your support helped make this event and mission possible.

💙 We see you.
💙 We appreciate you.
💙 We thank you for your service.

🔥 BBQ TEAM APPRECIATION🔥

We want to give a HUGE thank you to all 12 BBQ teams who came out and helped make our very first First Responder BBQ Cook-Off such an incredible event.

Teams traveled from all over including Yorktown, Jourdanton, Converse, San Antonio, Universal City, Wilson County, Floresville, La Vernia, and surrounding areas to compete, support our mission, and bring some amazing BBQ to our community.

These teams spent countless hours preparing, cooking, and competing — and we truly appreciate every single one of you.

🏆 CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNERS 🏆

🥇 Grand Champion
🔥 Smoke Showing BBQ – Jourdanton Fire

🥈 Reserve Grand Champion
🔥 Charcoal Confessions

🥉 3rd Place Overall
🔥 Ain’t Right BBQ

🍖 1st Place Ribs
🔥 Universal City Police Department

👨‍🍳 1st Place Cook’s Choice
🔥 Smoke Showing BBQ – Jourdanton Fire

Thank you again to every team that competed, volunteered, supported, and helped make this first year one to remember. We hope to see everyone back next year even bigger and better! 💛

🔥 INVESTING IN THE FUTURE OF FIRST RESPONDERS 🔥

The Joseph Mitchell Memorial Scholarship Application for 2026 is still OPEN through July 31st.

This scholarship was created to honor the legacy of Firefighter/Paramedic Joseph Andrew Mitchell by supporting those who feel called to serve others through Fire, EMS, and Law Enforcement.

Whether you are a graduating senior, current college student, or adult learner pursuing a First Responder career path, we encourage you to apply.

💛 Our mission is bigger than one event.
It is about supporting the next generation that will answer the call and serve their communities with courage, compassion, and dedication.

📅 Applications remain open through July 31st.

🌐 Apply online at:
www.josephmitchellmemorial.com

Please help us share this opportunity with anyone pursuing a future in Fire, EMS, or Law Enforcement.

🔥 EVENT MERCH STILL AVAILABLE 🔥

Missed getting merchandise at the First Responder BBQ Cook-Off? We still have event items available for order through **May 22nd**!

🖤 Event T-Shirts
🖤 Koozies
🖤 Decals

All proceeds directly support the mission of the Joseph Mitchell Memorial — helping provide scholarships and support for future Fire, EMS, and Law Enforcement professionals.

Our scholarship applications also remain OPEN through **July 31st** for those pursuing careers as First Responders or continuing their education in the field.

👇 Order Merchandise Here:
https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/joseph-mitchell-memorial

🌐 Scholarship Information:
www.josephmitchellmemorial.com

Thank you for continuing to support our mission and helping us invest in the next generation of First Responders. 💛

💛 We honestly do not even know where to begin. 💛

This past Saturday was something we poured our hearts into for many months, and in the middle of the cook-off day itself, we were so focused on making sure everything ran smoothly that we barely stopped to take photos.

What we *did* see though was community.

We saw BBQ teams showing up early and cooking all day long. Vendors supporting a first-year event. Sponsors and donors believing in our mission. Volunteers stepping in wherever needed. Families, First Responders, friends, and complete strangers coming together to support something bigger than all of us.

We truly cannot express our sincere gratitude to everyone who came out and supported the very first First Responder BBQ Cook-Off benefiting the Joseph Mitchell Memorial Scholarships.

This event was created to honor Firefighter/Paramedic Joseph Andrew Mitchell and help support the next generation of Fire, EMS, and Law Enforcement professionals through scholarships and community support. Seeing everyone come together for that purpose meant more than words can say.

Over the next few days, we will be sharing event highlights, winning teams, vendor spotlights, more photos as they come in, and information for anyone who may have missed the event but would still like to order an event t-shirt.

Thank you for supporting our mission and future First Responders. 💛

📸 If you took pictures during the event, we would LOVE for you to send them to us!

🎶🔥 We’re excited to welcome Joshua Harter Music to the First Responder BBQ Cook-Off this Saturday! 🔥🎶

Come enjoy great live music, amazing food trucks, local vendors, raffles, silent auction items, activities for the kids, and a great community atmosphere — all while supporting our future First Responders through the Joseph Mitchell Memorial 💛

This is a community event, and everyone is welcome. We’d love to see you there!

📍 Cactus Land Brewery – Adkins, TX
📅 Saturday, May 9, 2026

🛍️🍴🔥 We are beyond excited for the amazing lineup of vendors and food trucks joining us this Saturday at the **First Responder BBQ Cook-Off**! 🔥🍴🛍️

From handmade goods, artwork, candles, leatherwork, ci**rs, sweets, collectibles, and so much more — there truly will be something for everyone while supporting our future First Responders 💛

✨ Featured Vendors:
• The Blessed Barnyard
• David’s Collectibles
• Link’d.Gypsy
• AT&T FirstNet
• GB Leather Crafts
• Barks & Brushes LLC.
• 2 Smok'n Barrels
• Cookie’s Diamond Art
• Red Status Customs
• Heather Willeford Fine Art and Howe Artworks
• Tina's Korner
• M3llo's Scented Candles
• Thunders Artistry
• Stickyfingersci**rs
• Jenny’s Crafted Blessings
• Kai’s Korner
• Tattoo Perfection Adkins
• Big Daddy’s Brittle / Jerk Daddy’s Jerky
• Whiskey and Wildflowers Mobile Bar

🍴 Food Truck Vendors:
🌮 Team Birria LLC
🍧 AJs Snackshack featuring their special **“Hometown Heroes”** shaved ice treat created just for the event!

We’ll also have:
🎶 Live music with Harter Music
🎟️ Raffles throughout the day!
🛍️ Silent auction items
🎨 Activities for the kids

Come spend the day with us supporting a meaningful cause and our First Responder community!

📍 Cactus Land Brewing Co. – Adkins, TX
📅 Saturday, May 9, 2026

This weekend has been busy!

We officially put in the last order for the 2023 Joseph Mitchell Memorial Run shirts, so if you have not received yours yet, it's coming! We are also checking in with our three scholarship recipients!

We want to share our first, Mason Burgess!

Mason is following in his dad's footsteps in Emergency Services after discovering the excitement of EMS while doing ride outs in high school. He was presented with an opportunity to take an EMT Basic certification course and obtained his EMT-Basic certification earlier this year at the top of his class. Mason then immediately enrolled in a Paramedic course and is now excelling in his class with a graduation date expected in July.

Congrats Mason! We are excited to see where you go from here!

🌟 Closing Out the Year with Purpose! 🌟

Hey Everyone! As we wrap up 2023, there's still time to join the Joseph Mitchell Memorial Virtual Run! 🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️ For those who haven't laced up yet, here's your friendly nudge to be part of something special.

✨ Why join?
- Celebrate the end of the year on a positive note.
- Honor our incredible First Responders who keep our community safe.
- Contribute to scholarships for the next generation of heroes.

And here's some exciting news! As an end-of-the-year promotion, we've reduced the registration fee to just $30! 🎉 Your support goes directly to our local heroes, making this run a win-win for everyone.

Plus, all participants will receive a commemorative T-shirt and a participation medal as a token of our appreciation! 🏅👕

Ready to be part of something bigger? Sign up now and make your last steps of 2023 count! 🎗️https://runsignup.com/Race/TX/Converse/JosephMitchellMemorialRun

Share this post with friends who might've missed the memo. Let's unite in the spirit of community, wellness, and gratitude. 🤝🌟

🏃‍♂️🏃‍♀️