My lunch break at work is pure treasure. I descend four flights of stairs with my lunch bag, usually packed with tasty extras from last night’s dinner, and head to the sun-filled courtyard at Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital. I catch a little vitamin D, sing along with the birds and peruse the flower gardens to see what’s in bloom. On a recent Friday, the routine was interrupted by fragrant smoke signals curling in from behind the gated pavilion and a long line forming in full bandwagon effect.

I detoured from my sack lunch and took my place in line for a plate of barbecue. As I waited, I learned this was more than a food truck pop-up. This was the Post-Op Pitmasters’ inaugural fundraiser for Hogs for the Cause, the national organization that raises money for pediatric cancer. From my first forkful–shreds of the most tender pork ribs, encrusted with a smoky rub and sticky glaze; hand-shaved coleslaw; homemade pickles and pickled red onions–I declared it the best plate of barbecue I have ever tasted and needed to know more. Who is making this barbecue and what is their secret to indescribable deliciousness? I had my notebook ready as I stepped outside the gate to observe the team who exchanged their surgical gloves for barbecue mitts.

Enter Daryl Marx, MD, director of robotics for FMOLHS | Our Lady of the Lake, and a literal hive of volunteers including friends from high school, one of his sons and his team from the O.R. who launched their nonprofit just prior to this Friday fête.

“This is our maiden voyage,” Marx says, while transferring a rack of ribs from a car-sized smoker to a double sheet of foil drizzled with the secret sauce and wrapped tight to rest before serving. “And we’re doing it again at Lake Main next month.” Outfitted in logoed aprons and ballcaps, the team is all business with broad smiles, manning two smokers and plating up pulled pork, smoked wings and those perfect ribs for the hungry hordes.

A short walk down the road lies the beneficiary of their efforts: the Hogs for the Cause Family Support Home at Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital, a twelve-bedroom respite where families can stay during their child’s treatment and focus on their healing. Post-Op Pitmasters are on a mission to support these families, and they are feeding the throngs and having a great time in the process.

“Smoking meat is great. You can’t do it quick and easy. There’s perfect and wrong,” Marx says. Having learned the craft at a young age, he has cracked the code on the formula and is doing it with perfection, down to that aforementioned sauce he calls “knucklesuckers.”

Over the hospital intercom, a gentle voice welcomes Our Lady of the Lake staff and visitors to head to the barbecue pop-up. “Come together. Enjoy great food and make a difference.”

The line continues to grow to the tune of 200 plates served, and this team is just getting started. As of this magazine’s publication, the group has reached their goal of raising $25,000, and they will compete at the Hogs for the Cause event in New Orleans in April 2027. “We want to go down to New Orleans to the Jazz Fest of barbecue, get some bragging rights and raise money for childhood cancers,” Marx says. Bragging rights for Baton Rouge has a great ring to it, and if they are judging by taste, this team will win big, all for a worthy cause.