Thanks to volunteers with the Holte Holiday Dinners group, those who are less fortunate in San Benito County had full stomachs on Thanksgiving and Christmas.
That included residents who were living along the San Benito River bed before January storms hit. Holte volunteers actually hand-delivered meals to those homeless residents on Christmas, said Holte dinners co-chairman Ruben Lopez.
“Out takeouts kind of rose from 80 to 85 to a little over 100, Lopez told the Free Lance regarding Christmas.
He said it was a good, productive Thanksgiving and Christmas for the free events held at the Sacred Heart School gym.
“We always get a real large volunteer group from the adults and the students, which is fantastic,” Lopez said. “They get community service credit. We’re starting them young. We’ve always had the young kids.”
Lopez said donations have been up in recent times as well. He lauded help from Rotary Club and others and said the Holte organization was still in the black, by $200, after the Christmas meal.
Lopez noted how the gatherings cost about $2,000 to put on because of the food and supplies involved in the efforts.
He said organizers plan to move ahead with dinners in 2016. He said board members recently had a meeting, and everyone is coming back. They may get involved in fundraising at local events such as the Olive Festival or farmers’ market, he said.
