POSTED: Thursday, May. 27, 2010

New barbecue stand raising money for Bellingham girl

A local grocery store is combining two American pastimes on Saturday: A pit barbecue to help raise money for someone in need.

Last week The Market at Fairhaven started MarketQ, which has an 18-foot pit smoker called The Texas Beast. It'll be selling a variety of barbecue items, including ribs, brisket and pulled pork from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays throughout the summer. Side dishes and drinks also will be available outside the store, which has a seating area.

On Saturday, May 29, MarketQ will donate 100 percent of its proceeds to Olivia Cook, a 6-year-old Bellingham girl who needs a kidney transplant. Cook is scheduled to receive a kidney in July from Danica Kilander, a fitness trainer at Thrive Community Fitness in Ferndale. Kilander also has been helping with the fundraising campaign.

Sue Cole, a spokeswoman at The Markets LLC, said the company decided to donate the proceeds after seeing an article about Olivia and Kilander in the May 20 edition of The Bellingham Herald.

"After reading the story, we were really inspired to help. Hopefully this (fundraiser) will help make a dent in the transplant expenses," Cole said.

MarketQ posted strong sales with a soft opening last week, Cole said. The cooks will be throwing some extra meat into the pit in anticipation of larger crowds this weekend with the fundraiser and all of the people in town for Ski to Sea. The meat is cooked in a secured pit at low temperatures for up to 12 hours beforehand. Cole expects many regular store shoppers to be the main customer base at first, but hopes it evolves into a destination spot.

Later this summer The Markets will be teaming up with the Pacific Northwest Barbecue Association for cook-offs. The first event will be hosted by The Market at Birch Bay July 17-18, with the second being held at The Market at Fairhaven August 7-8. Up to 20 teams will be competing for prizes.