Thanks to our generous donors, 6,537 of our neighbors enjoyed a holiday meal complete with a turkey and all the trimmings this year.  1517 families in San Marcos, Kyle, Buda, Wimberley, Martindale, and outlying areas recieved a turkey box from the Food Bank.

 

Turkeys Tackling Hunger, the annual campaign to raise money for turkey boxes, netted almost $57,000 in our third year, far surpassing the goal of $40,000.   

 

"With the slowdown in the economy, I think that people understand that there are people who need help with food this year," says Jerry Gracy, Food Bank Executive Director.  "Food is a basic necessity, and many families are struggling to put food on the table, especially during the holidays."

Ted Gomez and the partners of H-E-B Grocery Store at 641 W. Hopkins in San Marcos helped the Food Bank in a big way this Thanksgiving.  Ted and his crew helped our staff assemble and store turkey boxes for needy families.

 

Last year, the Food Bank facility was over stuffed like a holiday turkey with food for 1376 turkey boxes.  Pallets of cranberry sauce, green beans, and stuffing mix competed for space with the food needed for everyday food distributions, and made navigating the small warehouse space a real challenge.  The prospect of making enough room to make the 1500+ boxes needed for this year proved to be near impossible. 

 

Ted offered space at the store to assemble the boxes and hold them for distribution week. Becky Bradley, Food Bank Administrative Assistant, coordinated the effort to serve 1517 families with turkey boxes.  Distributing boxes from the store instead of the Food Bank took the burden off the small facility and was a real success. 

 

Becky notes, "Thanks to Ted and the H-E-B partners that volunteered their time for Turkey Week 2009. This group was able to organize the assembly of 1500+ turkey boxes in 6 hours, a task that usually spans an entire week.  The efficiency they displayed was amazing. I like to call them our 'Turkey Box Angels'.  Thank you, H-E-B Store #243!"