Giving back this Thanksgiving

Enactus RGV will host its annual food drive Cansgiving on Tuesday to provide canned goods, produce and turkeys to 1,100 families in need through local community centers and ensure support for those facing food insecurity this Thanksgiving.

“This year, we’re actually going to be able to feed 1,100 families and what is actually included in these meals that we go ahead and give out is, for example, produce and it also comes with canned goods, stuffing and then of course the turkey that we provide,”said Enactus President Alheli Mondragon. 

It is the ninth year of the food drive, which is assisting more families every year.

“We started in 2015 and we were able to feed 25 families,” said Maria Leonard, an assistant professor of practice in the Robert Vackar College of Business and Entrepreneurship and the student organization’s adviser.

Since 2021, they have continued to feed 1,000 families, Mondragon said.

Many sponsors and donors come together to make the drive possible.

“The way we bag these meals is through a donation of the bags from Fox Packaging and the produce we receive as a donation from Coast Tropical,” Mondragon said. “And so, with the help of all of these individuals, we are able to actually put all this together.”

In order to reach those who are most in need, Enactus collaborates with community centers to get to those families.

“The reason that we do partner up with these community centers is because they are based in locations that are more in need,” Mondragon said. “For example, we partner up with Proyecto Desarrollo Humano, which is a community center in a colonia, in Peñitas.” 

Enactus follows procedures on how to create these meals for each family, including one produce bag, one canned good bag and the turkey. 

“It’s giving them the ingredients to make it, and including a little recipe as a suggestion,” Mondragon said.

A partner that makes distribution of the meals possible is the Food Bank of the Rio Grande Valley in Pharr.

“The food bank let us use their facilities to bag the meals as well as let us use their trucks so that once these meals are all packaged, they will be going to these places that they need to go,” she said.

Many volunteers are involved to make this possible.

“We are going to be bagging not just 1,100 bags of cans, but also 1,100 bags of produce,” Mondragon said. “We are going to need the most help at the food bank and also sending out the actual meals, during the distribution days.”

Josiah Gonzalez, a finance senior and volunteer, invites students, faculty and staff to participate.

“It’s a great opportunity to go out and learn about the needs of the community and it is great to go and volunteer,” Gonzalez said.

Those interested in volunteering can sign up at https://www.signupgenius.com.

Another event for the cause, “FreeThanksgiving” hosted by the Running Club, will serve free plates and gather donations for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. 

The fundraiser will take place at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Quad next to the Student Union on the Edinburg campus.

“The first thing we want to do is gather a bunch of people, usually people come because of free food,” said Nathaly Perez, president of the Running Club. “Once we have a lot of people at our event, we are going to announce that it’s a fundraiser for St. Jude’s.”

The main purpose is to fundraise as much as possible to help the children at St. Jude’s.

“We are going to show them the merchandise with their shirts, and we are going to talk to people and encourage them to donate,” Perez said. “If people buy those, all of the money that we raise is going to be given up to St. Jude.”

The event will be first come, first served, with about 50 plates to be served, but all are welcome to donate.

Perez said this is just the beginning of many fundraisers and hopes to help out the community as much as possible.

“We are looking forward to doing more events in the future and just finding a way to give back to the community while also having fun and having people come along with us,” she said.