Assistance with SQL Update

I am trying to run the below code to quickly update the order & order date on multiple items (the item list is larger than this, but cut it down for examples sake.)  When I try to run this SQL I get an error that says Incorrect syntax near '='  Which element of this programming is throwing my error?

declare @sql varchar(8000), @count int, @item varchar(100)
if object_id('tbl_Checklist') is not null
drop table dbo.tbl_Checklist

Create Table tbl_Checklist
(
Item varchar(50),
runthro int
)

insert into tbl_Checklist (Item) select 'Baseball'
insert into tbl_Checklist (Item) select 'Football'
insert into tbl_Checklist (Item) select 'Bat'
insert into tbl_Checklist (Item) select 'Hat'
insert into tbl_Checklist (Item) select 'Tee'

set @count = (select count(*) from tbl_Checklist)

while @count > 0
begin

set @item = (select top 1 item from tbl_Checklist where runthro is null)
set @sql = 'Update' + @item + ' Set Ordered = ''Yes'', OrderDate = Convert(varchar(10), GetDate(), 101)'

exec @sql

update tbl_Checklist set runthro = 1 where item = @item

set @count = @count - 1

End
End