Bringing Smiles & Sausage to Louisiana

The Johnsonville Big Taste Grill is heading south this month, in hopes of helping Louisiana residents impacted by Hurricane Laura with a warm smile and a free, grilled sausage.

Johnsonville had cancelled its annual tour this year for the first time in 25 years, in light of the national pandemic. But after receiving calls for help from residents and grocers, the company put a safety plan together, called its grilling crew back and left Wisconsin on Sept. 9. With thousands of residents having lost power and/or their homes from high winds and flooding in late August, many haven’t had access to a hot meal since.

Working with its retail customers in Louisiana and the Johnsonville sales team, Johnsonville will set up the 65-foot semi-turned-grill in the parking lots for eight different relief efforts between Sept. 15 – 23. Guests can receive a hot, Jalapeno Cheddar or Beer and Cheddar sausage free of charge. The schedule is listed below.

Guests will be able to receive their food by either driving or walking up to the serving station near the Big Taste Grill, respecting social-distancing guidelines that will be enforced by the Johnsonville crew and volunteers.

About the Grill:

Weighing more than 53,000 pounds and measuring 65-feet long, the Big Taste Grill can cook hundreds of sausages at a time and up to 2,000 per hour.

Providing more than just tasty tailgate sausages at special events and retail locations across the country, the Big Taste Grill also raises money for local charities. To date, the Big Taste Grill program has raised more than $4 million for a variety of charities nationwide, many of them local community organizations. In 2019 alone, the Johnsonville Big Taste Grill raised more than $99,610 for 28 different organizations nationwide.

Safety Precautions:

The following safety guidelines will be in place at all seven stops:

Masks:

• Because the state of Louisiana has issued a mask mandate, signage will be displayed within the footprint reminding all staff, guests and volunteers to please wear a mask at all times.
• All volunteers will be required to wear a mask that covers their mouth and nose pre-, during and post-event.
• Attendees who walk into the footprint will see signage indicating where to enter the footprint, how to maintain social distancing and to wear a mask at all times.
• Attendees walking up will be provided a mask if they want one prior to receiving a pre-packaged sausage or entering into the Johnsonville footprint area.
• Masks are not required by guests who are in their cars retrieving the food from their car.

Johnsonville Staff & Volunteers:

• Staff are provided PPE (mask & gloves), and required to wear them during event and hand out to volunteers.
• Additional sanitation spots and signage will be staged across the Big Taste Grill footprint.
• Staff will train volunteers on-site regarding COVID related safety processes, facilitate screening questionnaire and take their temperature, to confirm their healthy to serve.
• Volunteers will sanitize their hands prior to working and engaging with staff and guests.
• Volunteers must take screening questionnaire and get their temperature taken to confirm they’re safe to work the shift.
• Volunteers are provided PPE (mask & gloves) and will be required to wear this while executing the event. 
• Volunteers will individually package all food in foil wrap with single-serve condiments and pre-packaged napkins in plastic bags to hand out to guests from the Johnsonville serving trailer or car drive-thru area.

Sanitization:

• Staff and volunteers will sanitize highly touched areas around the footprint such as handrails, grill lid handles, freezer handles, food preparation surfaces, etc.
• Staff and volunteers will abide by cleaning and handwashing guidelines.