Durham BBQ Restaurant Offers Help in Aftermath of the Sandy Hook Incident

The food scene in Durham, NC is filled with high-quality product, and high-quality people, too. The events of December 14 in Newtown, CT shook people the world over, and propelled many to action.  Dan Ferguson, owner of The Original Q Shack in Durham, NC is a business-owner and father, and he realizes that this - and every - community needs to help.

Ferguson is donating 100% of the proceeds from The Original Q Shack on January 2 (11 AM to 9 PM) to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) which has an office in Durham.  

“I feed people for a living and knew this is how I could give back to my community,” said Ferguson.  He feels NAMI is the right fit because everyone needs to know that there is help for families who have a family member with mental illness.  “I wanted to help raise money for services and resources that are needed to support these families.  They are not in this alone.  Our community is here for them,” he added.  

“My youngest son is 6 and a half and in first grade....he could have been one of those babies our country lost last week,” said Ferguson who believes that the perpetrator of the incident was in need of mental health care.  “I have three kids and feel for all those parents that have experienced such a devastating loss.  Like our whole community, I felt so helpless watching the news.  I wanted to do something to try and help,” he said.

Among Durham’s most popular restaurants, The Original Q Shack, not to be confused with other restaurants in the area bearing a similar name and with which Ferguson used to be associated, has its sole location in the Rockwood District of Durham at 2510 University Drive. Ferguson is planning on offering limited menu on Wednesday, Jan 2nd 11 AM -9 PM. All of the proceeds from the day will go to NAMI, a move made possible in part by the generous support of one of Ferguson’s vendors, US Foods.

Durham is home to hundreds of great restaurants.  Learn more about all of them here.