LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — DV8 Kitchen is serving up a new menu item to help raise money for a North Carolina recovery center that suffered damage from Hurricane Helene.
The 'North Carolina BBQ Sandwich' is available at both of the restaurant's Lexington locations, and 100% of the profits will be donated to Hebron Colony Ministries, which runs an addiction recovery center in Boone, North Carolina.
Hurricane Helene destroyed some of the center's housing and damaged equipment.
DV8 owner Rob Perez happened to be in Western North Carolina at the time of the flood, and knew he needed to do what he could to help vulnerable community members.
"We put out the word to all of our friends in the recovery industry and asked, who's a really worthy candidate for a little help?" Perez said.
That's when he got in touch with Don Holder, executive director of Hebron Colony.
"He got my information, contacted me, and he told me that the Lord just kind of led him to me," Holder said. "I'm convinced that God does work that way for sure."
Perez, fittingly, came up with a Carolina-style barbecue sandwich, which features slow-roasted pork, fried okra and slaw on a brioche bun.
Between donations and people coming to order the new sandwich, Perez said DV8 had already raised $8,000, as of Friday morning.
That funding will already go a long way for the ministry.
"We charge nothing for anyone to come here for a 10-week stay and we house them, feed them, love them, and share some great truth with them," Holder said. "And benevolent people are, are the reason we're able to do that."
From hundreds of miles away, Perez is hoping to show the same support for North Carolina that Kentucky received after its 2022 flooding.
