RIVERVIEW, Fla. — The third annual Que For A Cure fundraiser is set to take place in Riverview in hopes of educating the community about epilepsy and empower those living with the disease.

What You Need To Know

  • The third annual Que For A Cure fundraiser takes place Friday, Aug. 23 (3 p.m. to 10 p.m.) and Saturday, Aug. 24 (10 a.m. to 10 p.m.)

  • It takes place at Showman’s Club, 6915 Riverview Dr., Riverview, FL 33578

  • The fundraiser hopes to educate the community about epilepsy and empower those living with the disease

  • Donate to the Seize the Moment Foundation & Que for A Cure

Over a grill, Roni-Kay Elser and her husband, Jim, admire a fresh rack of ribs. 

“So you want to take one good bite of a rib. You want to have that one bite through,” said Elser, after biting into the rib with a smile. “That is a good bite.”

The pair cooks competitively. 

“I have been doing this with him for four years, and he is on 15 plus,” said Elser. 

But the competition closest to their heart is the one they host. 

“This is a sauce that we made and all proceeds go to our charity,” said Elser.

The Que For A Cure barbeque competition raises awareness and money for those with epilepsy.

Elser knows a lot about epilepsy, including recurring seizures. 

“Growing up with epilepsy, I would average eight to 10 a day my entire life,” said Elser. “I was taking over 5,000 milligrams of medication every day. The most I had in one day was 108 that were documented.”

Diagnosed from birth, Elser suffered for years until she underwent brain surgery in 2008.

The procedure is called a temporal lobectomy, and since she had it done, she has been seizure and medication free. 

Now, she focuses on helping others struggling with the disease. 

“I wanted to be the person that people could go to. You know, I myself, growing up, I didn’t have a lot of that. You know, there weren’t a lot of people that understood what you were going through it,” said Elser. “You can go to the doctor’s office, you can go to the epilepsy services and the Epilepsy Foundation. But they really don’t understand how you are feeling when you go through it.”

She started the Seize the Moment Foundation, and three years ago began the barbeque competition. 

“All the money that we raised to that goes back to help the doctors at Tampa General Hospital and USF Physicians Group. So it furthers the research and development and studies for the doctors and physicians. And it also helps the patients with their education and/or doctor’s appointments and everything,” said Elser. 

She said it is the largest barbeque competition in the state, and is growing by the year.

Que For A Cure takes place Friday, Aug. 23 (3 p.m. to 10 p.m.) and Saturday, Aug. 24 (10 a.m. to 10 p.m.). It takes place at Showman’s Club, 6915 Riverview Dr., Riverview, FL 33578

The two-day event is for the whole family to enjoy, with many activities for kids to participate in, too.