RALEIGH, N.C. - In its second year, the Sir Walter Smoke Off has a new mission: to help those most affected by Hurricane Florence.

• Several teams competed in the fundraiser
• Event held at Dorothea Dix Park
• Many of the cooks say the effects of the storm hit close to home

“The first year we did it, we did it for the Oak City Outreach Center. They have since broken ground on that building which is really awesome and so now it’s time for us to find our next cause. It just so happened that as this event was coming up on us was the same time Florence was coming,” says organizer Zack Medford.

Smoking hundreds of pounds of pork, 18 teams competed this year for the fundraiser at Dorothea Dix Park. Many of the chefs doing the hard work say the effects of Florence hit close to home.

“Being from eastern North Carolina, this is like the little bit I could help, you know, the people from where I grew up,” Grill Your Way's Kenneth Blue said. He only cooks for community benefits and good causes. 

While a lot of barbecue was consumed, the sentiment of why people were there eating wasn't lost.

“It’s going to be a very long time before the rest of our state gets back on their feet, so the Carolina Cavalry wants to make sure people don’t forget about eastern North Carolina and keep helping them get it back together,” Medford said.

The Carolina Cavalry formed before Florence when a group of people realized the impacts it would have on the state. 

They're now working with non-profits along the coast and Medford says they're bussing people down to different areas each weekend to do service projects and further assist the recovery.