TEXARKANA — Two decades after it began, one of Texarkana’s favorite Christmastime traditions continues to bring out the best in the community.
The 20th annual Bramlett Beans and Cornbread lunch Thursday collected money and food donations to help families in need enjoy the holiday season.
The event — a popular gathering in the twin cities of Texarkana — took in hundreds of dollars and dozens of bags of food for the Christmas Basket program organized by Texarkana Water Utilities employees and both Texarkanas’ city employees.
For $5 or a donation of six food items, attendees at the Texas-side’s Southwest Community Center ate beans provided by Big Jake’s Bar-B-Que; cornbread made by the food services staff of the Texarkana, Texas, Independent School District; and coffee and dessert from Starbucks.
Texas High School art students also pitched in, selling handmade ceramic bowls to benefit the Christmas Basket program.
Proceeds will help pay for at least 100 food “baskets”— actually boxes that Girl Scouts decorated with gift wrapping paper — filled with food for families in need. Each year, area schools and city employees nominate people to receive the baskets.
Baskets contain items like hams, canned goods, bread and candy canes. Organizers shop year-round to take advantage of sale prices for basket items, Texarkana Water Utilities Administrative Coordinator Pam White said.
The event’s founder, former Texarkana, Texas, Mayor James Bramlett, said he had no idea the food drive would still be going strong after 20 years.
“I’m fortunate enough to put my name on it, and here we are at 20 years due to community support and all the business community supporting it. We couldn’t do it without our sponsors,” he said.
The Christmas Basket program began in 1991 with baskets given to five Texarkana Water Utilities employees. Paula Jeans, the former Texarkana Water Utilities human resources director, began it in honor of her father, who had died suddenly on the day before Thanksgiving the previous year.
“I started kind of asking around, and I thought, ‘Food. Everybody needs food.’ That’s the one thing that you can give somebody anytime,” she said. The program was an immediate success.
“It was just wonderful. I mean, it was just a great feeling to know that, OK, we’ve all got enough, so let’s help somebody that doesn’t. And then the next year we did it again, and it’s just continued to grow,” Jeans said.
The event’s organizers hope that by providing food, they can free up families’ financial resources to meet other needs.