CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — UPDATE- Attorney Thomas J. Henry released the following statement regarding the transition from his annual turkey giveaway to his new initiative "Feast of Texas".
"While the Turkey Giveaway was a tradition I cherished, I felt it was time to expand our efforts to reach even more Texans in need. The Feast of Texas allows us to make a greater impact by feeding families not just in the Coastal Bend, but throughout Texas. It’s about reaching as many people as possible and bringing hope to as many communities as we can."
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After nearly 30 years of handing out turkeys, Attorney Thomas J. Henry has announced he will not offer turkeys but will instead make a monetary donation to food banks across the state.
Though Henry started his law practice in Corpus Christi in 1993, he has been passing out turkeys since the mid-90s and has kept with the tradition until now. Initially, this was only in the Corpus Christi area, but it later grew to incorporate Alice, Freer and San Diego as well.
In a press release released on Tuesday afternoon, Henry's law office stated that he wanted to create a broader impact across Texas. So, Henry is launching his first-ever Feast of Texas, in which he will donate money to food banks across the state to provide meals to families across the state. Henry plans to make this an annual event.
The Feast of Texas will ensure over 3.5 million meals to people across Texas.
The Coastal Bend Food Bank Executive Director Bea Hanson said it will use Henry's donation to purchase all the trimmings that go with the turkey on Thanksgiving.
"We don't have the money to buy the turkeys. He is doing it differently this year. So, we are going to provide these generous meals to the families during our next distributions and distributions through December," Hanson said.
She said as soon as they get the meals, families can pick them up.
"The turkeys unfortunately are not a part of that meal because we cannot afford to buy all that many turkeys," Hanson said.
Hanson said she wasn't sure why Henry decided to stop the distribution of turkeys ,but felt he wanted to help the food banks across the state.
"He decided this year to give the food banks the opportunity to better serve the community by providing the funding for the meals. It's a lot of work to do all the turkeys that he was doing and I'm sure there's some limitations with his staff now," Hanson said.
KRIS 6 News has reached out to Henry's public relations team to find out what led to the transition.
The Coastal Bend Food Bank served Aransas, Bee, Brooks, Duval, Jim Wells, Kenedy, Kleberg, Live Oak, McMullen, Nueces, and San Patricio counties.
Hanson said the agencies in outlying communities will handle their distribution events. Those who need help, do not need to qualify. They just need to show up.
Hanson said the plan is to give two holiday meals per vehicle, where the recipient will need to provide some sort of identification.
For those who are picking up meals for those who don't have transportation, they will have to provide an identification for that person and the addresses must be different from the person who is picking up the meals.
"This is going to be a much larger distribution we have ever done, so we are going to need as many volunteers as we can get to help us manage traffic and help us move distribution as fast as possible. We don't want a lot of people having to wait," Hanson said.
For more information on the upcoming distribution event or if you'd like to volunteer, go to the Coastal Bend Food Bank's website by clicking here. Once the food the food bank has ordered, they will post the distribution dates will be posted.
For those in need of assistance or looking for a free meal for Thanksgiving, click here.
