A chili cook-off was hosted at the Military Science ROTC building to raise money for Howl’s Heroes and engage in community outreach.

Howl’s Heroes is a student organization that supports the ROTC, but is not directly affiliated with the organization.

John Volpe, a junior English major from Little Rock and junior class representative of Howl’s Heroes, said while the turnout was small, he is grateful for those who did attend to both serve and taste the various specialty chili. 

He said the event almost didn’t happen.

“We didn’t have much time to prepare and we needed an idea to fundraise money,” Volpe said. “There were a lot of complications, and we’re hoping for next year that we’ll have way more time and way more people.”

Volpe said one of the main struggles with the cookoff was advertising. He said advertising will be more closely considered for the next Howl’s Heroes event.

Alianzo Williams, a senior exercise science major from Fordyce, Arkansas and vice president of Howls Heroes, said he hopes the cookoff and other events will pave the way for future members.

“Coming into this program, there wasn’t proper representation on campus,” Williams said. “What I want to do is start little events like these so that when I’m gone, new students would have something for them that they could volunteer on and connect with people on campus.”

Cookoff winners include the Phi Delta Theta fraternity for the judge’s vote and We Are The 22 (WAT22) for best booth theme.

WAT22, a non-profit association specializing in veteran suicide intervention, operated a booth at the cookoff to spread recognition for their cause.

The organization derives its name from the fact that on average, 22 veterans take their lives every day.

Executive Director of WAT22 and Marine Corps veteran Wesley Holt attended the event to provide insight into his organization.

“We’re a statewide veteran suicide intervention program,” Holt said. “We run a hotline with 911 and 988. We get in front of veterans face to face, we don’t care if it’s two o’clock in the morning on Christmas, we’re gonna get in front of them and make sure they see the daylight.”

Holt said his mission is to not only save the lives of veterans but also reduce some of the stigma around suicide discussion.

“We tell people all the time, there’s nothing wrong with you; something happened to you,” Holt said. “We’re all veterans and we’ve got to be able to process these thoughts.”

More information about WAT22 can be found on their website, wearethe22.org.

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