A Weslaco native is proving that Texas is where the best BBQ is.
Fred Robles, who is the owner of Rio Valley Meat, recently won the 40th American Royal World Series of Barbecue in Kansas City. Robles says he’s the second person in Texas to do so.
“It’s a world championship. You had 39 states represented and 9 different countries,” said Robles.
For the past 6 years, Robles has gone competitive with his grilling skills. Not only has he won several competitions around the country, he’s also able to give back to children in the Rio Grande Valley.
“It’s just kind of mind blogging how many kids go through there, with whatever situation they ran into,” Robles said. “Whether it be child abuse or neglect. It’s nice to see that there’s help for them.”
Just last year, Robles was able to donate $8,500 to Estrella’s House, a childhood advocacy center in Edinburg. With the help of one of his sponsors, Big Poppa Smokers, the more he wins throughout the year, the more money he’s able to donate to the center.
“We really like helping people out and it’s a blessing to be able to do that, said Yadi Robles, Fred’s wife. “To be part of an organization that can give back to the community, especially, something like Estrella’s House that we find is a good charity for these kids.”
The large donation, even took the Executive Director of Estrella’s House by surprise. “For them to be able to go throughout the nation and participate in this contest,” said Jesus Sanchez. “To say that the Children Advocacy Center is their charity of choice. It’s very special to us.”
If you have someone you would like to highlight for their acts of kindness in our ‘Hometown Heroes’ segment, email Nicole Hickl at nhickl@sbgtv.com or contact her through Facebook.
