Katie Hilyer, Miss Chilton County and Blast From the Past alumna, will be selling “Ribs to Go” in the lobby of Blast at Chilton County High School this Saturday and Sunday.

Blast admission is $7 at the door. The ribs cost $20 per slab, and all the proceeds will go directly to Lakeshore Foundation in Birmingham. Cash and credit/debit cards will be accepted.

Hilyer, a senior at the University of Alabama, said she decided to raise funds for Lakeshore Foundation because it changes the lives of injured service members who live not only in Chilton County but across Alabama and the United States.

She said her goal is to speak across the county and raise awareness and money for Lakeshore Foundation.

Hilyer’s goal is to raise $10,000. The ribs will be on sale until March 30.

However, Hilyer said the real success will be the amount of people who learned about Lakeshore through her outreach.

“I hope that by going around the county and speaking about Lakeshore’s Lima Foxtrot Program, I may reach that one person who needs help and doesn’t know help is so close,” Hilyer said.

Hilyer expressed her gratitude for all those who have let her speak about the Lakeshore Foundation’s Lima Foxtrot Program and to those who have thus far bought a rack of ribs. Community support in Chilton County is always significant, she said, especially for a cause that people can relate to and that benefits so many service members.

Phillip Davis, owner of Associated Foods, teamed up with Hilyer and donated about 1,000 racks of ribs to sell across the county. His “Ribs to Go” truck is easily recognized by his reputation as having some of the “best ribs in the state of Alabama.” Kenyan Easterling, owner of Home Printing Company in Clanton, donated all the tickets for the Ribs to Go campaign.

“The amount of community support I have received is so humbling and encouraging,” Hilyer said.

Lakeshore Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dependent on the financial support of individuals and corporations. Its mission is to enable people with physical disability and chronic health conditions to lead healthy, active and independent lifestyles through physical activity, sport, recreation and research.

Lima Foxtrot programs include several camps that bring injured military personnel and their family members from across the country to Alabama. Each camp, referred to as an operation, is offered at no charge to the participants. The camps include Operation Rise & Conquer, an outdoor adventure weekend held at Lake Martin; Operation Down Home, a weekend camp for injured servicemen and women as well as their families; Operation Night Vision, a camp specifically designed for injured service members with blindness or visual impairment; Operation Alpha for servicemen and women who have sustained traumatic brain injuries; Operation Refocus, a new women’s only camp being added for 2014; and Operation Endurance, which provides daily fitness programs to recently injured military personnel returning home to Alabama.

Although Lakeshore serves injured service members through the Lima Foxtrot program, the organization also provides fitness, recreation, and sports programs for adults and children with physical disabilities and chronic health conditions. Lakeshore is a place where physical activity and research meet opportunity and encouragement. Visit Lakeshore.org to learn more about Lima Foxtrot and other specialized programs that they offer. You can also follow them on Twitter and Facebook with the updates on the Sochi Paralympics going on now.

For more information about Hilyer’s effort, contact her at (205) 617-2676 or lkhilyer@crimson.ua.edu.