MOUNTAIN BROOK, Ala. (WIAT) – With the year’s first tailgate party in the rearview, the college football season has officially kicked off.

On Saturday, Aug. 19, college football fans donned their teams’ garb and gathered at Otey’s Tavern in Mountain Brook for a good time, good food and to rally behind an even better cause. 

The CBS 42 sponsored event “14th Annual Boiling N’ Bragging,” presented by Rotary District 6860 benefits the Critical Care Transport program at Children’s of Alabama. 

With team members consisting of highly trained registered nurses and respiratory therapists, the Children’s of Alabama Critical Care Transport team is now in its 40th year, transporting more than 1,000 critically ill and injured children each year by helicopter, jet and ambulance. 

Saturday’s event featured a low country boil, a DJ spinning classic radio hits as well as college football fight songs, the CBS 42 weather truck and mascots like the University of Alabama’s “Big Al” and UAB’s “Blaze” causing their usual smile-inducing antics. 

The event, which was first pitched and organized by a Rotary intern nearly 14 years ago, attracted a mere 100 attendees in its first year, since growing exponentially, bringing in more than one million dollars for the Children’s of Alabama Critical Care Transport program over the past 14 years. 

“Rotary’s goal is to give back to the world, and this [Boiling N’ Bragging] is our way to give back to our little corner of the world– to give back to the children of Alabama,” said Lee Weinmen, a past Rotary District Governor.