FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — A local restaurant owner in the Tower District is known for cooking up mouth-watering BBQ but on Thanksgiving, he will be doing so much more.

A now viral video posted by BenSmokin BBQ with over 100,000 views has sparked a movement bringing community members together to organize a Thanksgiving dinner to serve about 1,000 people in need.

Bernard Mendoza is the owner and pit master of Ben Smokin BBQ.

Born and raised in Fresno, Mendoza says his calling is feeding people and this Thanksgiving, he is taking action, organizing a neighborhood dinner to feed 1,000 people in need, paid for through donations and out of his own pocket–

“We’re going to cook a lot of turkeys and I smoke them on a bake them in the oven,” says Mendoza.

When he posted this video to TikTok to announce his plan, Mendoza had no clue the reaction and amount of support he would receive.

“We’ve had a bounce house company reach out and want to donate a couple of bounce houses for the kids. A porta-potty business is going to donate a porta-potty and a hand-washing sink, so we’re ready to feed the masses for sure,” he says.

For Mendoza, this is personal. In light of cuts to federal food assistance, he says his community needs the help now more than ever.

My wife and I were on SNAP when we first started living together and starting our family and stuff and still working and the biggest misconception, I think, out there is people on SNAP are lazy and don’t want to work,” said Mendoza. “I see those comments. We’ve got to do better and we can do better about that.”

Mendoza started cooking up BBQ plates out of his house during the pandemic and is now a neighborhood staple, with a brick-and-mortar, located in the Tower District.

This Thanksgiving, using the location to serve his community in a bigger way.

BenSmokin has set up an online form for volunteers to sign up and offer their time. They are also accepting donations to go towards the Thanksgiving meal, you can find a link here.

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