Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Steven and Libby Lang. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Steven and Libby, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

We all remember Hurricane Harvey. In some way, every single one of us was affected by it in the Houston area. During those days, we were commenting on how many groups from out of the area were coming in to help the Houston community. As great as it was and as thankful as we were for those groups, we felt that we should also be doing something. And with that, the idea for a non-profit barbecue company that could serve people and communities at their greatest moment of need was birthed. We began the process of forming a board, getting all the paperwork submitted, and purchasing needed items. On Tuesday, May 15, 2018, we received our paperwork from the IRS stating we were approved as a non-profit organization. We decided that we would really start operating and pursuing opportunities in the summer after our family vacation, but then Friday, May 18, 2018, happened. That was a day a student at Santa Fe High School went into his school and went on a shooting rampage. Our family lives in Santa Fe. No words can express or even begin to describe what we saw that day, the emotions we felt, and how we saw our community impacted. We knew we had to do something. Within 4 hours of the shooting, we opened our business banking account and received our first donation later that day. We were ready to serve. That same day Steven reached out to a local pastor in Santa Fe that we had never had any dealings with, told him we would like to serve, and asked how we could partner together. That pastor, without knowing us, told us that we could have the keys to his church and we could cook there overnight and his church would help us get the food out to the community. One week after the shooting, Burnt Offerings BBQ helped to serve the first responders to the shooting and even some survivors. It was truly an honor to serve those affected by that tragedy and to do it in our community.

Since that first cook, we have served close to 100,000 people and have logged almost 10,000 service hours. Our events include doing numerous cooks for people who have cancer to help them raise money to pay their medical bills, supporting alcohol and drug addiction recovery programs, raised money for local booster clubs, and cooking for a group who remodels abused children’s rooms. At the beginning of COVID, we wanted to show our appreciation for our hospital workers and law enforcement, so we cooked for almost 3,000 medical workers, local police departments, and the Harris County 911 operators to say Thank You. In 2020 and 2021 we served over 70,000 residents in communities affected by Hurricanes Laura, Sally, and Ida. We also helped in distributing 40 18-wheeler trailers full of needed items and supplies after Hurricane Ida. In Houma, Louisiana, in partnership with other disaster relief organizations, the local government recognized all we were doing and sent out the national guard to help us in our efforts.

At the end of 2021, we had the honor to lead and partner with organizations to go down to the Texas/Mexico border and serve local and state law enforcement. Knowing that many of the officers are away from their families for weeks at a time, it was a tremendous blessing, privilege, and honor to serve and bring them a delicious home cooked meal. In February of this year, we cooked for Harris County Corporal Galloway’s funeral in partnership with other groups to honor his service. Through this event, we were able to reach, not only local law enforcement agencies, but agencies around the country. In May of this year, we cooked for the Harris County Precinct 5 Constables office to honor their fallen deputies. We also were able to raise funds for a student in a local school district to provide a scholarship for them to continue their education. We were honored and humbled to help make a difference in their life.

Our mottos is Feeding Hope and that is what we feel called to do. Food crosses all barriers. We all need food and food is a source of comfort at a moment of need.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

When we married 15 years ago, we had a desire to help people. Steven’s background is in oil and gas and Libby is a licensed social worker. We were always active in our church with different outreach events, serving in various ministries, and always taking food to people when there was a death in a family, when someone had been in the hospital, or just had a baby. Through different situations in our personal lives and Hurricane Harvey in 2017, we then began the process of beginning an official non-profit organization to serve people at their greatest moment of need. In 2020, we were able to begin working on Burnt Offerings BBQ, our non-profit organization, full time. We strive to serve with excellence and to build relationships with those we serve. Our future goals are to buy some land and build a barbecue restaurant. Also on that land, we would like to build a restoration home for men and women coming out of an addiction recovery program to help them get another year of sobriety under their feet. The program would consist of learning life skills, working in the restaurant to build job skills, and effectively and safely being re-introduced to society. We believe positive change can greatly impact generations to come and our desire is to help in bringing that positive change.

If you have multiple revenue streams in your business, would you mind opening up about what those streams are and how they fit together?

We were able to purchase a mobile food unit in 2021. This enables us to serve and sell in the community at different events, schools, and outreaches more readily and easily. When we sell to the public, a portion of the proceeds goes back into the community in the form of disaster relief or other needed ways. Other than this income, we rely on donations from individuals and organizations.

Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?

Throughout this past school year, we cooked at a local school district to raise funds to provide a student a scholarship. We requested that the parameters put on this scholarship would be that the student who received it was not an all-A student or a star athlete, We specifically wanted a student who could possibly be overlooked when it came to typical scholarships. We wanted one who had a desire to further their education, whether that be college or a trade school, and one who had a plan as to how they would achieve that education. On Friday, May 20, we had the honor and privilege of being present when a young lady was presented with this scholarship. To see her overcome with emotion showed us that what we do truly matters. We helped, along with the teachers who bought food throughout the year, make a true difference in this young lady’s life, a change that could impact generations.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.burntofferingsbbq.org
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/burntofferingsbbqtexas