DICKSON CITY, Pa. -- On this Labor Day, some hometown heroes who don't always get holidays off took a lunch break to raise money for charity.
Rain started to fall just as the six hometown heroes faced off in a rib-eating contest. Two police officers, two firefighters, and two local veterans had three minutes to eat Texas Roadhouse's fall-off-the-bone ribs.
"I didn't eat anything at all this morning. I didn't eat anything at all since about 8 p.m. last night. I was gearing up," said Navy veteran John Morris.
Morris ate 14 ribs and took home the trophy. He also gets to donate all of the money raised to his charity of choice.
"Tried to do my best. These guys are great. Every one of these guys did a good job. I respect them all, veterans and first responders," he said.
Texas Roadhouse in Dickson City has been raising money for about a week to add to the donations, along with the money raised in raffles.
"Our community is so important to us. We don't do any other outside advertising. We directly try to give back to the community to build regulars and build those relationships," Texas Roadhouse's Kayla Dolan said.
Texas Roadhouse honors hometown heroes every Monday night and this was just an extension of that.
"These are our regulars. (They) dine with us all the time. Monday we always honor our hometown heroes, so this is a big day for them to visit anyway," said managing partner Denise Harding.
"I think there should be more community support for both first responders and veterans. I think it's an awesome job that they did. I had a great time," Morris said.
Morris' charity of choice is the SPCA, and they'll donate about $1,000 to it.
"I feel great, representing St. Francis, representing the veterans of northeastern Pennsylvania," he added.
Morris has to watch out. Corey Bednash fell short by just one rib eating only 13.
"I'll beat him next year," Bednash said.
This is the first time Texas Roadhouse has done this, but everyone had so much fun, this surely won't be the last.