Season of Giving

H-E-B shares details on free holiday feast for thousands of San Antonians

H-E-B's Feast of Sharing returns to San Antonio on December 21.

Photo courtesy of H-E-B

H-E-B, Texas' beloved supermarket chain that laid down its roots in the San Antonio area over 100 years ago, is fighting hunger and giving back to its loyal local customers this holiday season.

The H-E-B Feast of Sharing is a free event that takes place at 33 locations across Texas and Mexico. Back for its 30th year, the feast returns to San Antonio for its final date on December 21. During the special event, hundreds of partners and community volunteers come together to prepare meals, many of which are made in H-E-B’s mobile kitchens.

Running from 11 am to 3 pm at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, the H-E-B Feast of Sharing will welcome guests for a day of "food, music, and good cheer." (While you’re there, keep an ear out for sleigh bells — Santa may make a special appearance.)

“At the heart of who we are as a company is our commitment to giving back and supporting the communities we serve,” Winell Herron, H-E-B's VP of public affairs, diversity, and environmental affairs says in a release. “For more than 30 years, the H-E-B Feast of Sharing has been the highlight of the holiday season for us. It gives us a wonderful opportunity to share a meal and embrace one another with the passion and warm spirit of the holidays.”

Free and open to all, guests are invited to dine, listen to live music, and take part in arts and crafts and kids' activities. And though volunteer slots have since been filled, H-E-B says those looking to help with the event should still come to the convention center.

“If you wanted to volunteer, we encourage you to still come down. Eat a meal with somebody, find out a little bit about their life, and enjoy the event,” says Julie Bedingfield, H-E-B public affairs manager. The meal will feature a classic holiday dinner with turkey, pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, and gravy.

The feast is the capstone to H-E-B's Food Bank Assistance Program. Each year, the company donates over 32 million pounds of food to food banks near H-E-B locations.

In November, H-E-B partnered with the San Antonio Food Bank to donate almost 2,000 meals and delivering ready-to-heat food to area seniors at the George Cisneros Housing Complex on the West Side.

Since the Feast of Sharing began in 1989 in Corpus Christi and Laredo, 3.8 million meals have been served by more than 375,000 volunteers. This year, the company expects to welcome 14,000 South Texans to share in the festive community fun. During the dinner, VIA Metropolitan Transit will be providing free rides. Just let your bus driver know you’re headed to the H-E-B Feast of Sharing.

“Here in town, we want everyone to come. We certainly will have food for 14,000 people, but I challenge you to make us push those numbers to the limit,” Bedingfield says.

In addition to its San Antonio event, H-E-B is also hosting its final Feast of Sharing in Corpus Christi on December 21.

For more information on the Feast of Sharing, head here.

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SPARE ART

North San Antonio gets crafty with new creative supplies shop

Photo by Ismael Rodriguez.

Local nonprofit Spare Parts recently opened its brick-and-mortar center for creative reuse.

One local nonprofit organization has spent years getting environmental accountability and community education down to a fine art. And now it’s getting crafty with a new brick-and-mortar shop in North San Antonio aimed to help locals to go green.

Spare Parts was founded in 2010 by executive director and longtime arts educator Mary Elizabeth Cantú to provide a creative spark for area students and schools lacking arts funding and resources. Through a variety of educational programs, public art exhibitions, events, and the organization’s traveling Mini Art Museum, Spare Parts has enlightened thousands of students and San Antonians, all while fostering reuse practices and sustainability, a key tenet of the nonprofit.

Spare Parts’ latest endeavor is another artistic triumph. Its new center for creative reuse, located at 13451 Wetmore Rd., is nothing less than a crafter’s delight. The shop features an impressive array of “pre-loved” and price-reduced artsy merchandise — from paint supplies and paper crafts to sewing items, beading and jewelry, school and office supplies, vintage gadgets, and crafting kits — all of which has been rescued from area landfills.

Cantú notes that proceeds from the new Spare Parts’ shop will enable the organization to further increase creative and educational experiences for San Antonio students and families. But even more so, she hopes the shop will help locals embrace the concept that one person’s trash can be another’s artistic treasure.

“There really isn’t any more room in the world for this stuff. Buying pre-loved at places like Spare Parts or other stores is a way to reduce the amount of things [people] feel that they need,” Cantú said in a recent interview with the San Antonio Sentinel. “We’re challenging people to rethink things around them, buy pre-loved, and find a way to be creative in their lives.”

In the time of COVID-19, however, getting the creative juices flowing isn’t as simple as popping into the Spare Parts shop. Though the center for creative reuse is open, the store is currently offering only weekend curbside pickup of items ordered through its website. But crafters shouldn’t despair, as Spare Parts is offering private in-person shopping experiences in the new year, with the first planned for January 16 and 17.

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