Boston University’s chapter of FeelGood held a grilled cheese eating competition at BU Central on Saturday, which was located in the basement of the George Sherman Union. The contest cost $15 to enter, and all of the proceeds went toward fulfilling the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
While a sandwich eating contest is fun, the competition was about more than who could finish the most grilled cheeses in 15 minutes. FeelGood has been around since 2005 and has raised more than $1.82 million throughout its 25 chapters, according to the FeelGood website.
The BU chapter has been around since 2011. Kelsey Lloyd, group member and senior in BU’s Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, said the group’s main source of fundraising is its presence at Late Nite Cafe at Warren Towers dining services. FeelGoodBU sells grilled cheese once a week on Tuesday nights for five dollars each, which students can buy either with money or dining points.
Lloyd, from FeelGoodBU, said she hopes that by selling food, it can raise money and awareness toward meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which focus on sustainability through ending poverty and world hunger by 2030.
“Right now, we’re just working towards growing the movement, so hopefully more events like this will allow for more outreach,” Lloyd said. “We’re a small group, and it’s a big campus, so it’s always good to get the word out.”
Also present at the event was FeelGoodBU President Becca Young and Deli Manager Erin Hegarty. Hegarty made the grilled cheese with a small station, which included fresh bread, cheeses and portable countertop grills.
When asked if audience members could have grilled cheeses as well, Hegarty said they could have a sandwich for any price donated to the organization, because the contest was about more than just eating food.
“Extreme poverty is a huge global challenge, and 2030 hopes to increase sustainability by focusing on sub-goals, such as ending world hunger by operating a larger network of food security around the world,” Hegarty said.
The contest started off with seven participants, who were each presented with a plate of five sandwiches. When they reached their last sandwich, they would raise their hand for more. Each participant had 15 minutes to eat as many sandwiches as they can, and the one who at the most is the winner.
Several participants gave up a few minutes into the round, after eating three sandwiches. Americo Rodrigues, a sophomore in the Questrom School of Business, finished the round as the assumed champion, eating eight sandwiches.
However, the contest was not over. Just as things were beginning to wrap up, Davy Huang and Josh Zins, both seniors in the College of Engineering, showed up late but were ready to eat grilled cheese. FeelGoodBU let them have a round of their own, and either of them were able to eat more than Rodrigues did, they would be the winners.
Even in the first minutes of the second round, Huang and Zins were already off to a better start than the other contestants. As the clock reached the 13-minute mark, Huang struggled to finish his ninth sandwich. Zins was in a similar situation, and as time ran out, Huang said they ended in a tie.
They were about to enter a round of “sudden death,” but when holding both of their sandwiches up, it appeared that Huang had eaten more of his ninth sandwich than Zins.
“We’re both here to represent engineering, so I think we should both split the prize,” Huang said.
They both walked away from the competition as winners, sharing the prize of a sandwich named after them at Warren Late Nite. They decided on naming it the Davy-Zin, which is fitting, considering that the grilled cheese is to be a double-decker sandwich.
