COMBES — Senior hunger will soon be reduced here following this week’s announcement the nonprofit Amigos del Valle will provide lunches at the community center.
The daily lunches are free but seniors are encouraged to contribute voluntarily if they are able, although it is not required.
“The board members and I agree and are grateful to have this program made available in Combes,” Mayor Marco Sanchez told the crowd at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday.
“With the assistance of Amigos del Valle, this program will provide nutritional meals and transportation to our senior citizen community.”
Amigos del Valle operates in Starr, Cameron and Willacy counties bringing meals to seniors who might not otherwise be able to afford them and providing transportation services. The nonprofit has recently expanded services to two other small towns in Cameron County, Santa Rosa and Los Indios.
“We’re going to provide a daily lunch meal Monday through Friday and right now we already have 15 people signed up here,” said Alex Guerra, executive director of Amigos. “That’s just to get us going and hopefully it will grow from there.”
Guerra said he and his staff are excited to fill a need in Combes and they are looking forward to working out of the Combes Community Center at 21646 Hand Road, which Guerra calls “a beautiful facility.”
“We have our kitchen in San Benito so it’s somewhat of a close proximity to the center and we’ll come here and deliver that pan of food,” he said. “They actually have a steam table here.”
A typical lunch meal consists of Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes and vegetables, Guerra said. “Actually, yesterday it was chicken with some zucchini, so it’s a good meal.”
Amigos is funded through the Area Agency on Aging which is administered through the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council.
“I do appreciate the expansion to providing more opportunities for seniors,” said Jose L. Gonzalez, director of Health and Human Services for the LRGVDC. “We do have some seniors who do have some food insecurity, and access to some of those services and having those services here in Combes provides more … for the seniors here and in surrounding communities.
“We do need more meals, it’s never enough,” Gonzalez added. “We provide meals that we’ve purchased for five days a week but then what happens Saturdays and Sundays? That’s our reality, but again congratulations to the city of Combes for the foresight and really pushing to have this program here.
“And thanks to Amigos del Valle for listening to my plea and coming to Combes,” he added.
