Screaming Eagle chili cookoff raised funds for suicide prevention

Screaming Eagle, a restaurant downtown in Waterloo, hosted a chili cook-off. All the proceeds went towards suicide awareness. The event happened last weekend from noon to 3 p..m on Saturday. 

Danny Brown, the main host of the chili cook-off said, “This is like a freestyle chili event. We didn’t really put any rules on the chili, so the judges are just judging on just which one they think is the best. Next year when we do a fundraiser, we might tweak it to do something a little different. This year it is just overall what the judges think.” 

They are hoping to have it many years to come.

Jeremy Jones,a manager at Screaming Eagle, said that Screaming Eagle also contributed a kettle of chili for the event. 

Jones said “I handpicked some special judges,so we have Al Warner from A and J Development; Chad Shipman from Iowa Irish Fest; Deborah Berry from the city council; Mike Tomo, who is a local businessman; and Dave Bosen, our current reigning mayor.” 

Brown explained part of his inspiration for the event.. “I started a group called Keep Fighting On in 2023.I started doing one ride a year, one family per ride, which moved to last year, going to two families on our last ride, and this year we have two rides planned with two families apiece. So I decided to hook up with Jeremy Jones here, and we came up with an idea of how to fundraise to afford or supplement the two rides we’re doing this year, one in May and one in August.” 

Brown said, “I’m just glad that so many people showed up to support this cause. This cause is really important to me. I just like when people show up to support the same cause, and I realize there are more and more people that believe it’s important. It’s not something we should just hide and do nothing about; it’s something we should stand together and try to fix.”
Brown’s advice to people going through suicidal thoughts is, “Even when you think that you’re alone, you’re not alone; there is someone to reach out to. There is always somebody, even though your brain doesn’t work like that when you’re in that mode, but there’s always somebody. I wanna bring up a memory from one of my rides I did like two rides ago. There was a guy who was going through some suicidal times in his life, and we were doing the ride for his little brother, who had committed suicide. At the end of the ride, he came up to me, and he goes, ‘At times I felt alone, but now I am looking around, and I see 300 people that showed up for my brother, and nobody knew my brother. And 300 people showed up to support this cause. At this time I realize that I am not truly alone even when it feels that way.’”

If you or anyone you know is struggling with mental health problems, there are places you can go, depending on what you struggle with, including the national Suicide Lifeline, 988.