Eugenia's specialty was making pimento cheese, bacon, and mayonnaise sandwiches which quickly gained popularity among the soldiers at the nearby Camp Sevier.
A community in Greenville, South Carolina joined hands to make 10,000 sandwiches in a single day to distribute them to local schools, food banks, soup kitchens, and shelters. 200 volunteers assembled to honor the legacy of Eugenia Duke, a local woman who challenged the norms 100 years back to start her own business and support World War I soldiers. According to Good News Network, Eugenia Duke and her daughter Martha started selling homemade sandwiches for 10 cents each in 1917. They would sell their sandwiches at Army canteens to make some extra bucks and support their family during the war.
Eugenia's specialty was making pimento cheese, bacon, and mayonnaise sandwiches which quickly gained popularity among the soldiers at the nearby Camp Sevier. Four years later, the resounding success of her homemade sandwich prompted Eugenia to start bottling up her homemade mayo for sale. Her "Duke's Mayonnaise" went on to become a much-loved condiment that's still available on the shelves of grocery stores across the United States of America.
According to the Greenville Journal, several local organizations came together to help the volunteers make 10,000 sandwiches on November 3—which also happens to be National Sandwich Day. The volunteers at VisitGreenvilleSC were provided with 100 gallons of condiment from Duke's Mayo while Feed & Seed, a local food non-profit organization, made the pimento cheese mix. Meanwhile, Meals on Wheels and Loaves & Fishes helped with delivering the assembled sandwiches.
The volunteers made all the sandwiches inside the Peace Center Wyche Pavilion which is the same location as the original Duke's Mayonnaise factory. Several local hospitality companies also extended their equipment and manpower to VisitGreenvilleSC, which organized the entire event. "More than 24 organizations in our community are going to be getting sandwiches," Taryn Scher, founder of TK Public Relations said.
The original recipe of Mrs. Duke—better known as Eugenia's BPT (Bacon, Pimento cheese and Tomato sandwich)—was followed by the volunteers. The BPT includes 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese; 1 cup shredded white cheddar cheese; 1/3 cup mayonnaise; ¼ cup diced tomatoes, ¼ cup diced sweet red peppers; and ¼ cup bacon bits. All of the 200 volunteers worked tirelessly in assembly lines for six hours straight to meet the goal of making 10,000 sandwiches in a day and feeding thousands of Greenville residents with the gourmet meal, all in honor of Eugenia Duke who is recognized as one of the earliest female entrepreneurs in the United States.
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Cover Image Source: Facebook/TK PR
