Phil’s BBQ and Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Diego County partnered for the fourth straight year on Aug. 6 to raise money for Big Brothers Big Sisters’ military mentoring program, called “Operation Bigs.” Phil’s BBQ served more than 3,000 guests during the fourth annual Phil’s Big BBQ at the Ballpark, and raised nearly $70,000 for Operation Bigs.

This year’s tailgate was the largest yet, breaking the previous fundraising record set last year by $15,000. An additional 900 tickets were sold this year when compared to last year.

“We’re thrilled with the outcome,” said Phil Pace, owner of Phil’s BBQ. “The tailgate party is the largest fundraiser our restaurant hosts, so it’s always a great sense of accomplishment and lots of fun for our staff to be out here and see how much the kids and their families are enjoying themselves.”

In addition to the public, 1,000 Bigs, Littles and their family members chowed down on Phil’s chicken and ribs plus two side dishes, ice cream from Ben & Jerry’s Seaport Village and played in the Kid Ventures Kids Zone. There was also a Karl Strauss beer garden and Slurpee truck on site.

The $25 ticket fee included the Phil’s tailgate experience and a Padres game ticket, with all of the ticket sales benefiting the charity. 120 Phil’s BBQ staffers donated their time to serve nearly 4,000 pounds of chicken and ribs to event guests.

In the four years Phil’s BBQ and Big Brothers Big Sisters have partnered to benefit Operation Bigs, they have raised more than $200,000 for the organization. To learn more, call (619) 218-3532, or visit www.SDBigs.org.