Wayne-Sanderson Farms Partners With Uah’s Alpha Tau To Raise Over $100,000 For Cancer Research

15th Annual “Battle of the Buffalo” Wing Festival Benefitting Several Huntsville Cancer Care Centers 

HUNTSVILLE, AL. (MAY 2024) – The 15th annual “Battle of the Buffalo” charity wing festival was a grill-sizzling success with more than ten thousand pounds of fresh Wayne-Sanderson Farms wings served to help support local cancer patients and cancer research. Members of Wayne-Sanderson Farms’ Decatur team recently joined event organizers from the University of Alabama Huntsville’s Theta Pi Chapter of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity to present a check for $112,000 raised from this year’s event to the Clearview Cancer Institute, Russel Hill Cancer Center and HudsonAlpha Institute.

Last month’s Battle of the Buffalo event garnered its largest crowd to date, with 10,000 attendees joining local food vendors, musicians and Huntsville-area businesses to raise awareness and dollars to support cancer patients and champion research. The annual event was started by University of Alabama Huntsville’s Theta Pi Chapter of the Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity in honor of their late fraternity brother Paul Salmon, who succumbed to leukemia in 2007.

The “Tastiest Wings in the Tennessee Valley” contest has become a staple of the Battle of the Buffalo event. Wayne-Sanderson Farms Corporate Chef and returning judge Beau Batchelor said the culinary talent on display was impressive and wing entrants had seriously upped their game for this year’s contest.

“A lot of tasty grilled wings and unique approaches were presented, including smoked, charcoal and even a stuffed, deboned wing which was incredible,” said Batchelor. “This was the best showing I have seen in several years of judging this competition, and I really had to pace myself because we had more than 20 contestants cooking up Wayne-Sanderson Farms wings.”

Top honors went to Ted’s BBQ of Madison, with Parlay’s and Tim’s Cajun Kitchen taking 2nd and 3rd place. Other categories included the attendee-voted “Fan Favorite” award, which went to Bo’s Best Wings. Straight to Ale sponsored an additional category the “Best Wings to Go” which included pairing wings with local brews, naming BigBarts BBQ as winner.

“We had a fantastic turnout, and it was a perfect afternoon for people to relax, listen to music and support a great cause,” said Grant Hershbine, Alpha Tau Omega fraternity brother and executive director for this year’s festival. “We are so appreciative of Wayne-Sanderson Farms’ donation of chicken wings and volunteers who helped out during the event.”

About Battle of The Buffalo

Battle of the Buffalo is a non-profit organization that exists to reduce the impact of cancer on families within the communities of Huntsville, Madison County, and the North Alabama area and support the efforts of Clearview Cancer Institute, Russel Hill Cancer Center and HudsonAlpha Institute. The organization was founded in 2009 by the brothers of the Theta Pi Chapter of the Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity in honor of their late brother Paul Salmon, who passed away from Leukemia in 2007. Each year, Battle of the Buffalo hosts an annual chicken wing charity fundraising festival and Salmon 5k run in Downtown Huntsville. For more information visit https://battleofthebuffalo.org/.

About Wayne-Sanderson Farms

Wayne-Sanderson Farms is an industry leader and the nation’s third-largest poultry producer, serving customers, consumers and communities with integrity, leadership and responsible farm, workplace and business practices. With a diverse portfolio of products, a strong operating culture, and an industry-leading workforce of more than 26,000 people, Wayne-Sanderson Farms owns and operates 23 fresh and further-processing facilities across Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina and Texas. Wayne-Sanderson Farms produces affordable, high-quality poultry products for retail, foodservice, restaurant, industrial and institutional segments under the brand names of WAYNE FARMS® fresh and prepared chicken; SANDERSON FARMS® fresh chicken; COVINGTON FARMS® fresh and frozen chicken; PLATINUM HARVEST® premium fresh chicken; CHEF’S CRAFT® gourmet chicken; and NAKED TRUTH® premium chicken. For more information visit our website at http://www.waynesandersonfarms.com