By Sahar Chmais
UPDATE: Changes have been made to the meal times. Beginning the evening of Thursday, Feb. 25, the organizations will serve dinner. Then, beginning Friday, Feb. 26 through Sunday, Feb. 28, both lunch and dinner will be available.
Hays County residents will have access to free lunch and dinner Thursday, Feb. 25, through Sunday, Feb. 28 through Mission Buda Cares.
After enduring a week of power outages, water shortages and a time without a paycheck and leftover repairs for some, multiple groups came together to help feed the county.
“The Buda Area Chamber of Commerce (BACC) understands the hardships faced by the local business community within Buda – and beyond – but also the needs of area residents,” said Cassaundra Melger-C’De Baca, CEO of the F7 Group. “This campaign is designed for anyone needing assistance. It isn’t about a hand-out; it’s about helping our neighbors in need.”
Barbecue meals will be served every day from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. for lunch, and then again from 4 p.m. until 6 p.m. for dinner. Meals are to be ordered online at www.F7group.com/Buda. Order pick up is located at the Central Texas Veterans Center, at 100 Houston St. in Buda. About 6,000 meals will be distributed every day.
Businesses and organizations can also place orders for bulk meals of 50 and more at the same website, www.F7group.com/Buda. Pick up for businesses and organizations will be at City Park, 204 San Antonio St. in Buda.
Mission Buda Cares is being led by the F7 Group, Texas Fire Walkers and the BACC. The mission is supported by the City of Buda, Operation BBQ Relief and the Central Texas VSO.
“We are excited to partner with such wonderful organizations in a county-wide effort to provide meals to those in need,” said J.R. Gonzales, executive director at the BACC. “Our recovery is going to take time and we want to be there to support our community in any way that we can.”
