 Well, for years the United Way of Bemidji has launched their fall fundraising campaign through the use of one particular food. Josh Peterson serves up this story on the impact a bowl of chili can have on a community. There is a crisp fall smell in the air outside of Bemidji's Sanford Event Center. But beyond the building's doors, you're hit with another tasty aroma. 25 cooks shared their best chili recipe for the annual chili cook-off to help launch the United Way's fall fundraising campaign. They come here with the theme for the event and the community gets involved and it's just a really fun event. For 27 years, the United Way has used chili as a way to celebrate and launch their annual season of fundraising. The event has become so popular that it has become a Bemidji tradition. Businesses like to be participating in things like this because it's just great for the community, great for the cause and they're very supportive of the United Way and want to be a part of it. With the theme best of Bemidji, participants rolled out their very best and flexed some creative muscle. While others worked to showcase their chili, others took the opportunity to display why they are the very best and how important it is to be part of the event. The United Way is a good way to support a lot of agencies in the community. So we like to come and show our support for them. Through the use of friendly competition, the United Way of Bemidji not only raises valuable dollars but brings a community together. You get so many people here because you pay a little bit of money, you get to try a whole bunch of different chilies and then you get to see what everybody's doing for the years. In Bemidji, Josh Peterson, Lakeland News. And pace-setter businesses have already raised over $170,000 before the United Way. That's 35% of the overall campaign goal of $520,000. So they're well on their way. That's always a fun event, lots of chili to go around. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.