The 26th annual Feast of Sharing was held on Tuesday evening at the Palmer Events Center. Organized by Texas grocer H-E-B, free Thanksgiving dinners were served to an estimated 14,000 Central Texans. Over 1000 volunteers—including many H-E-B employees—helped with various tasks such as food prep, serving, drink distribution, and children’s activities.

My district’s City Council representative, Kathie Tovo, welcomed the diners. Austin Fire Chief Rhoda May Kerr spoke and reminded residents to be diligent in preventing house fires during the coming months. I also spotted Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo distributing plates of food.

Behind the scenes, four assembly lines prepared the plates of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberry sauce, bread, and gravy. Plate servers then delivered the hot food to the long rows of dining tables. Other volunteers pushed grocery carts filled with soda, water, and ice between the tables.

This year I volunteered as a Pie Server. Before the doors opened, we were kept busy with plating slices of pecan and pumpkin pie. We then loaded the plates into large bread trays and circled the hall to distribute pie to the tables. Pecan was definitely the favorite choice.

Kudos to H-E-B for hosting Feast of Sharing in Austin and other locations throughout Texas!

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