SAN ANTONIO – Temple Beth-El hosted its first-ever Christmas dinner for those in need on Sunday.
The Jewish congregation reached out to 12 area schools and handed out thousands of invitational fliers.
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More than 100 volunteers prepared enough tamales, turkey and pie to feed 400 families.
Not only did participants get to enjoy a home-cooked meal, there was also a live string quartet playing holiday tunes.
“It’s really nice and really kind, too, that they have all this food for free,” Cristed de la Cruz said.
“(I) hope this is the first of many, many years of us serving the community this way and working with the city as a whole. And (I’m) hoping it will grow and expand over the years and really be something that we, as a congregation, look forward to, and the city can count on to serve people in need and give them a wonderful Christmas experience,” said Mara Nathan, senior rabbi.
Volunteers also took about 100 boxes of leftover meals to hungry people around San Antonio that were unable to drive to the event.