The Jeffery Ingram Memorial Foundation is hosting a barbecue cook-off open to the public Sept. 26 and 27 to provide scholarships for Magnolia ISD high school students.

"It's so important for our community to be involved," said foundation board member Natalie Chumley. "This is a local scholarship and we want to get as many people as we can involved."

Jeffery Ingram, the foundation's namesake, was an avid athlete. He was a standout pole vaulter and football player at Magnolia High School and champion bull rider at Texas A&M University. In 2007, a year after his death, family members came together to establish the foundation and offer student scholarships in Jeffery's memory.

"After [Jeffery's death], we wanted to do something in his name for his alumni school and Magnolia ISD," Chumley said. "We wanted something positive to come out of that. Education was important to Jeff — that's why we really wanted to go with scholarships. We try to give [scholarships] to people that, had we not given them money, they wouldn't be able to go to college."

During the past seven years, the foundation has awarded 19 scholarships totaling $190,000 to MISD high school seniors, Chumley said. The foundation's five-member board reviews scholarship applications each May to determine the best candidates.

"We really try to find the good kids," Chumley said. "They don't have to be first or even 10th in their class. [We look for someone who] works hard, wants to go to college, wants to make a difference in their education and has some attributes like Jeff had."

On average, the foundation is able to fund three $10,000 scholarships each year. This year, however, the foundation received 74 applicants and was only able to award one scholarship because of a lack of funding, Chumley said.

The foundation holds fundraising events twice a year to support the scholarships, a golf tournament at High Meadow Ranch and the upcoming barbecue cook-off each fall.

This weekend at Unity Park in Magnolia, the cook-off will take place today from 6–11 p.m. with a "meet the teams" introduction and continue Saturday from 11 a.m.–5 p.m. with barbecue judging and silent and live auctions. Event admission is $6 per person to sample barbecue dishes from the competitors.

The deadline for Magnolia ISD high school seniors to apply for a scholarship from the foundation is April 24. Based on the amount of funding raised, the total number of $10,000 scholarships available will be announced in the coming months. Scholarship winners will be announced in May during the senior award ceremonies at each of the high schools.

For information, visit www.thejeffingram.com.