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+2Soon after Aaron Siegel opened his first Home Team BBQ (opens in a new tab) in 2006, local causes began looking to the fledgling West Ashley restaurant for financial support. The business wasn’t yet in a position to donate money, but Siegel had something else to offer—food. Quickly, he and his operating partners learned that introducing their dishes to hundreds of people at events was a lot of fun and good for business. “We started realizing what an opportunity you have in the food and beverage business to give back in a unique way,” the founder, says. “It’s some of the best advertising that you could have.”
Twenty years later, the restaurant group has seven locations in four cities and a well-established record of feeding the community while raising money for local causes through events, including this month’s sixth annual Holy Smokes (opens in a new tab) barbecue festival, hosted alongside Anthony DiBernardo of Swig & Swine BBQ (opens in a new tab).
Holy Smokes brings together more than 50 pitmasters and chefs from across the country to serve meaty creations to thousands of folks at North Charleston’s Riverfront Park. Over the last five years, the event has raised more than $460,000 for Hogs for the Cause, a New Orleans-based nonprofit that supports families of children diagnosed with brain cancer, as well as the local Ronald McDonald House, which provides housing for families with children receiving treatment at the Medical University of South Carolina. The first Holy Smokes was hosted in November 2021, bringing to life an idea that DiBernardo and Siegel first discussed pre-Covid.
A decade before Holy Smokes debuted, Home Team had already established a fundraising tradition. In 2011, the business launched Gimme Shelter in support of Operation Home, which provides critical home repairs, including installing wheelchair ramps for the elderly and those with limited mobility. This year, the annual party at the downtown restaurant raised a record $107,800 for the nonprofit.
Three years after launching Gimme Shelter, Siegel traveled to New Orleans for his first Hogs for the Cause festival, which featured 90 barbecue teams and 13 bands. “When we saw what they were doing, I think we really caught the bug,” he recalls.
In 2016, Home Team marked its 10th anniversary with a downtown street party that included vendors and live music—its first foray into large-scale event hosting and a precursor to future fundraisers. The party evolved into the annual Rock the Block, which this February raised $103,508 for Hogs for the Cause and the Ronald McDonald House, where Siegel now serves on the board.
Home Team also hosts Tacos for Tom, a fundraiser started in 2021, initially supporting Siegel’s friend Tom Hodges and his family as he battled ALS, a progressive neurological disease. Each June, the barbecue joint’s locations compete to sell the most cheeseburger tacos and have raised a total of $441,000 for three ALS nonprofits. “Since [Hodges] passed away last year, it means even more,” says Siegel.
In February, Home Team added Queso for Clayson to its roster, donating a portion of queso dip proceeds—$20,000—to Blood Cancer United in honor of Clayson Smith, who died at age 18 in 2025 after battling leukemia.
Beyond fundraising, Home Team serves more than 2,000 teachers and nurses free meals during appreciation weeks every May. The restaurant group receives as many as 50 support requests a week. “We’ve had to get more organized about it over the years and set some guardrails. We still go off those guardrails a lot,” Siegel says. “A lot of it is hard to turn down.”