STEWARTSTOWN, Pa. — A York County family hosted a fundraiser cookoff in memory of their late son, who was killed in a 2017 car crash.
Andrew and Amy Manker, parents of Austin Lee Davis, were inspired by their son's love for cooking, purple and pandas.
The first annual The Gift of Life Purple Panda Cookoff in Remembrance of Austin Davis was held on June 11 at Red Barn Farm Market at Harry Dehoff Farms.
"Our son alone has touched almost as many people that are here today," Andrew Manker said. "One person did that."
Hundreds of attendees had the chance to participate in a raffle and judge the competition. The grand prize was a Kamado Joe Junior Smoker/Grill. In total, 13 cooks fought for the title of best barbecue.
"It feels really good that our friends, our family, people that we don’t know heard about it and said, 'Hey, I want to donate,'" Amy Manker said. "Like I had a list of people I was going to go to asking for donations. I didn’t really have to. 'We want to support you. How can we help?'"
All proceeds from the event went to supporting the Gift of Life Donor Program, the organ procurement organization serving Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.
"One person today can help save eight people today through organ donation, and then with tissue, over 100 people's lives can be saved through tissue donation," Dwendy Johnson, Gift of Life Community Relations Supervisor, said.
Davis was able to help 209 people after his death thanks to being a tissue and cornea donor.
According to the event Facebook page, the Mankers plan to make the cookoff an annual event.