Thousands of San Angeloans Flock to the 19th Annual Feast of Sharing

The H-E-B Feast of Sharing event in San Angelo is a tradition many residents look forward to as soon as November rolls around. It’s also the one time of year, people will patiently stand in line outside of the Wells Fargo Pavilion, chat and await their chance to find a nice spot for their families to enjoy a traditional hot turkey feast with all the fixings, and to participate in the added entertainment lineups that keep people coming back for more.

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For this year’s 19^th annual event, about 7,000 people made their way inside the Pavilion Sunday afternoon to be a part of the longstanding tradition. Additionally, 500 of those attendees received free flu shots, so they got to “kill two birds with one stone,” as the old cliché goes.

“We just want to take this time of the year to kick off Thanksgiving and Christmas and get everybody involved,” stated Lynn Shipley, Unit Director for H-E-B.

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Getting people in San Angelo involved isn’t all the company had in mind.

“[Our volunteers] will have 31 stops and feed about 250,000 people [across Texas] when it is all over,” said Shipley.

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The Feast of Sharing originated in San Angelo in 1997. It started out with H-E-B employees and volunteers preparing the meals in the kitchens of Lake View High School, Community Medical Center and Meals for the Elderly.

“That’s where we really established our relationships within the community, and then we brought them all together,” noted Shipley.

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Bringing everyone together takes a lot of effort, and 500 volunteers donated their time for this event. For those volunteers, it’s all about the outcome.

“It’s a great feeling [to be a part of the event],” said Emmett Lopez, the event’s volunteer coordinator who has been a part of Feast of Sharing since it started. “If one person tells me ‘thank you,’ it [makes] my day.”

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Giving thanks is the theme of Feast of Sharing, and many attendees had a lot to be thankful for Sunday. First year attendee, Liz, said she was “very impressed” with the turnout.

She stated, “This is something awesome. It is so wonderful that they give this to the community.” Liz added that she and her party of six definitely plan on returning and hope to volunteer next year.

In addition to the food, the Feast of Sharing also provided plenty of entertainment for the attendees. The final act of the afternoon was the Kirk Whipple Band.

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Kirk has been a part of the local music scene for several years and stated that he really enjoys playing benefits for the community.

“It is good to give back to those who give to you,” Whipple stated. “I feel honored to have been asked to play this benefit. There are hundreds of musicians in town that could easily do this, and I feel very honored that they picked me.”

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As usual, this year’s Feast ended successfully. Not a single person went home hungry, and everyone left with a smile on their face. Not to mention, H-E-B once more succeeded in its commitment to the San Angelo community.

“H-E-B’s culture is all about giving,” Shipley stated.