35th annual event benefiting NCSY sizzles into summer
Annual fundraiser has been "horrifying vegetarians" since 1990
Those hoping to buy some kosher ribs this week might be out of luck. The same is true for steak, wings, ground beef and brisket.
That’s because Nina and Dan Butler are hosting the 35th annual Summer Sizzler June 24 — and they serve a lot of food.
“Last year we went through 900 ribs,” Dan Butler said. “I just went down to Murray Avenue Kosher and told them we should probably plan on a few more people.”
More than 300 invitations were sent to Jewish community members, local politicians, young families and others for the event, held in the Butlers’ backyard.
It’s been an organic growth for what is now a large fundraiser for NCSY, an organization that has played a pivotal role in the lives of Jewish teens across the globe for nearly three-quarters of a century, and one that is close to the Butlers’ hearts: The two met at an NCSY event, as did their daughter and son-in-law, and several of their married friends.
Nina Butler recalled the genesis of the Summer Sizzler.
“We knew many young couples who were very mobile, and in the summer our friends were leaving town,” she said. “We made a barbeque for them. After a few years, I realized that as an educator, I’m positively reinforcing negative behavior. So, the next year, I made a barbeque for the people staying in Pittsburgh.”
Butler said that after several summers, she decided the barbeque should become a fundraiser for a cause her family cared about.
“That was the origin of the NCSY Sizzler,” she said.
The Sizzler has now been replicated in four other cities and has raised millions of dollars for NCSY.
“It’s all a result of these couples leaving Pittsburgh,” joked Dan Butler, who is chairman of NCSY’s youth commission.
In its first few years as a fundraiser, the Butlers welcomed 75 couples into their backyard. It’s grown over the years.
“The people who attend are a real cross-section of the community, which is something that really inspires us,” Nina Butler said.
Those attending the soiree are only part of the Sizzler’s community engagement, however. As one might imagine, an event of this magnitude requires the assistance of many people.
“All through the day people show up at the house and say, ‘Hey, I have an hour or two, put me to work,’” Nina Butler said. “The whole community gets involved trying to help.”
That includes a band, whose members are friends of the Butlers, people who cook, grill and smoke the food purchased for the event, as well as local youth.
“Kids who are involved in NCSY want to help, and there are a whole lot of other kids who are friends of the family who come and help during the day and do different things,” Nina Butler said. “We have a whole list of tasks that need to be done.”
Once those tasks are completed, the teens leave as the event is adults-only.
“And then they come back at the end to help clean up. They might even get some leftovers,” Nina Butler joked.
Food preparation begins weeks in advance, including appetizer selection and preparation, meat smoking and more.
Dan Butler mentioned one particular volunteer — Jason Small, who he calls the event’s “grill master” — who takes time off from work and spends several days and nights preparing the meat.
“[Small] claims that he’s been doing it for over 20 years,” Dan Butler noted.
And while leftovers aren’t too common after the Sizzler has ended, Nina Butler has put those to good use over the years.
She is the director of Bikur Cholim, a nonprofit that provides for the material and spiritual needs of Jews in Pittsburgh who are facing medical challenges, and their families.
“There’s little left over, but I’m on the calendar the next day for any patient who’s hospitalized in Pittsburgh to bring that family dinner,” she said. “And we try to use it for someone we need to thank, as well.”
Rabbi Tzali Freedman, NCSY’s director of Central East Region, said that NCSY reaches about 30,000 teens and sends more Jewish children to Israel for a gap year of study than any other group — about 500 children annually.
NCSY is a leading provider of Jewish summer programs worldwide, reaching about 2,000 teens in the United States, Europe and Israel across the Jewish spectrum, from children with no Jewish background to those who are wholly observant.
Dan Butler said that NCSY empowers teens to become future Jewish leaders and helps build Jewish identity.
The Garden Sizzler is part of the fundraising necessary to keep these programs operating.
Evidence of both the event’s popularity — and NCSY’s impact — can be found in the number of people who donate to keep it afloat. Last year that number rose to more than 200 individuals.
After more than three decades of hosting the Garden Sizzler, Nina Butler said there’s a whole host of people who return each year, including someone who flies in from Los Angeles just to attend the event.
Because the date changes each year, she said, some couples plan their vacations around the dinner.
Nina Butler said weather is always a concern, but large tents erected throughout the yard keep everyone as dry as possible.
“One year it rained hard,” she recalled, “and [former Allegheny County Executive] Richard Fitzgerald was here. He said, ‘Nina, this year wasn’t only memorable. It was biblical.’”
And while the Garden Sizzler provides much needed funding for NCSY, Nina Bulter said it accomplishes something even more important: It builds relationships.
“There’s such a warm communal vibe in the room, and that enables me to go and have a conversation with potential donors,” she said.
Tickets for the 35th Annual Garden Sizzler are available at NCSY’s website. PJC
David Rullo can be reached at drullo@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
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