Help Munchies Smokehouse BBQ
Donation protected
Hello, my name is Chaut'ez and my husband, Brandon and I are the proud owners of Munchies Smokehouse BBQ, a mobile bbq food trailer in Las Vegas, NV.
Brandon and I have been married for nearly 12 years and have 3 beautiful daughters. We opened Munchies on October 10, 2020, with the help and support of our family and close friends. It hasn't been an easy achievement by any means, we have spent every cent of our life savings to get to this point, completely gutting and rehabbing our trailer, doing most of the work ourselves to meet health department standards and legally operate in our county. Achieving our goal of opening a bbq food trailer has been a dream come true.
In October 2019, I was unjustly terminated from a company I spent 10 years of my life dedicated to. Like most Americans, I was very unprepared to be suddenly unemployed with very few options available. I felt lost, hopeless, and for the first time in my adult life. I was very insecure about my life and the direction it was headed. It was tough and a huge burden to carry; trying to put on a brave face for my family, listening to myself try to explain to my daughters that we couldn't have Christmas this year, and so many other things I took for granted like always having the ability to provide for them. My stability was gone both financially and mentally. I was paralyzed with grief and disbelief. I spent months deeply depressed, not knowing how to move forward with life or even how to manage the simple day to day tasks. I had to humble myself and seek assistance which doesn't come easy for me. It was through the graciousness I received from others that I realized this was not a devasting time of my life but an opportunity to seize our dreams of opening a bbq food truck. A dream we thought about on and off for 7 years. What we thought was our retirement plan quickly became our lifeline. I stuck to my instincts and followed my heart and in-turn we were able to open Munchies Smokehouse BBQ a year later.
That's why I am here today, to ask for your help so that Munchies Smokehouse BBQ can stay alive and continue to thrive and keep up with the demand of a new business. We purchased our bbq trailer in March 2020, driving to Maryland to pick it up, and making it back to Las Vegas one week before the pandemic hit. We were not aware of the remodel it needed to meet the health department codes to operate legally in Clark County. It turned out that everything on the trailer was out of code and needed to be replaced. We spent our life-savings on the remodel, doing most of the work ourselves and strategized to save as much money as possible. We replaced the floors, removed dry-rotted wood, replaced inside and outside wall panels, purchased NSF appliances, updated plumbing, electrical and more. It was difficult, stressful and dangerous, we suffered plenty of battle wounds working on this project but it was all worth it. Munchies Smokehouse BBQ is taking off. Since opening, we've successfully been able to secure 5-6 events per week and are scheduled out through the end of the year and adding more events for Q1 of 2021. We are growing at a much quicker rate than anticipated. We have repeat customers and astounding reviews of our food. Our social media platforms are steadfastly growing with every event.
But the pandemic has really hindered us.
The unemployment benefits I received after the loss of my employment expired, and my husband's unemployment was deemed, not covid related. With the purchase of a trailer from another state, we had to wait for the DMV to reopen to register and inspect the trailer, a delay that cost us 4 months of operations. We are unable to keep paying out-of-pocket for things like insurance or supplies which makes it difficult for any new buisness to stay open. We do not qualify for any of the Covid-19 relief that was provided to small business because our business was established during the pandemic. We are asking for help to raise $20,000 to make repairs to the jack on our trailer, some welding, and modifications to our smoker, our truck needs heavy-duty shocks to tow our very heavy trailer, stock up on supplies and inventory, pay our insurance up for 1 year and move our food trailer to plug in at the commissary full-time.
Thank You for your support, we are forever grateful for any help we can receive. Please follow Munchies Smokehouse BBQ for times and locations.
Brandon and I have been married for nearly 12 years and have 3 beautiful daughters. We opened Munchies on October 10, 2020, with the help and support of our family and close friends. It hasn't been an easy achievement by any means, we have spent every cent of our life savings to get to this point, completely gutting and rehabbing our trailer, doing most of the work ourselves to meet health department standards and legally operate in our county. Achieving our goal of opening a bbq food trailer has been a dream come true.
In October 2019, I was unjustly terminated from a company I spent 10 years of my life dedicated to. Like most Americans, I was very unprepared to be suddenly unemployed with very few options available. I felt lost, hopeless, and for the first time in my adult life. I was very insecure about my life and the direction it was headed. It was tough and a huge burden to carry; trying to put on a brave face for my family, listening to myself try to explain to my daughters that we couldn't have Christmas this year, and so many other things I took for granted like always having the ability to provide for them. My stability was gone both financially and mentally. I was paralyzed with grief and disbelief. I spent months deeply depressed, not knowing how to move forward with life or even how to manage the simple day to day tasks. I had to humble myself and seek assistance which doesn't come easy for me. It was through the graciousness I received from others that I realized this was not a devasting time of my life but an opportunity to seize our dreams of opening a bbq food truck. A dream we thought about on and off for 7 years. What we thought was our retirement plan quickly became our lifeline. I stuck to my instincts and followed my heart and in-turn we were able to open Munchies Smokehouse BBQ a year later.
That's why I am here today, to ask for your help so that Munchies Smokehouse BBQ can stay alive and continue to thrive and keep up with the demand of a new business. We purchased our bbq trailer in March 2020, driving to Maryland to pick it up, and making it back to Las Vegas one week before the pandemic hit. We were not aware of the remodel it needed to meet the health department codes to operate legally in Clark County. It turned out that everything on the trailer was out of code and needed to be replaced. We spent our life-savings on the remodel, doing most of the work ourselves and strategized to save as much money as possible. We replaced the floors, removed dry-rotted wood, replaced inside and outside wall panels, purchased NSF appliances, updated plumbing, electrical and more. It was difficult, stressful and dangerous, we suffered plenty of battle wounds working on this project but it was all worth it. Munchies Smokehouse BBQ is taking off. Since opening, we've successfully been able to secure 5-6 events per week and are scheduled out through the end of the year and adding more events for Q1 of 2021. We are growing at a much quicker rate than anticipated. We have repeat customers and astounding reviews of our food. Our social media platforms are steadfastly growing with every event.
But the pandemic has really hindered us.
The unemployment benefits I received after the loss of my employment expired, and my husband's unemployment was deemed, not covid related. With the purchase of a trailer from another state, we had to wait for the DMV to reopen to register and inspect the trailer, a delay that cost us 4 months of operations. We are unable to keep paying out-of-pocket for things like insurance or supplies which makes it difficult for any new buisness to stay open. We do not qualify for any of the Covid-19 relief that was provided to small business because our business was established during the pandemic. We are asking for help to raise $20,000 to make repairs to the jack on our trailer, some welding, and modifications to our smoker, our truck needs heavy-duty shocks to tow our very heavy trailer, stock up on supplies and inventory, pay our insurance up for 1 year and move our food trailer to plug in at the commissary full-time.
Thank You for your support, we are forever grateful for any help we can receive. Please follow Munchies Smokehouse BBQ for times and locations.
Organizer and beneficiary
Chautez Ducharm
Organizer
North Las Vegas, NV
Brandon Jackson
Beneficiary
