Food-related Benefits for West, Texas

Shop for groceries, dine out, eat barbecue, buy pastries to help

Only hours after a deadly fertilizer plant blast leveled part of West, Texas, people began looking for ways to help. H-E-B sprang into action, sending a mobile kitchen to feed first responders and displaced residents and setting up $1, $3, $5 donation options at store check out counters statewide. Now, there's more.

A cloud over West (Photo by Andy Bartee)

Sunday, April 21

Outlets of the quick-casual dining chain Quaker Steak & Lube in Waco, Plano, and Carrolton announced they would accept non-perishable donations thorough Sunday, April 21, and will donate 15% of Sunday’s food sales to displaced families in West.

Welcome to West, Texas (Photo by Otis Ike)

Operation BBQ Relief, a Missouri-based non-profit of competition pitmasters formed after a tornado devastated Joplin in 2011, has set up at VFW Post 4819 in West serving meals to displaced families, emergency workers, and volunteers. They are accepting donations of aluminum foil, tinfoil pans, large-size disposable plastic gloves, three-compartment clam shell meal containers, flatware combo packs, gallon-sized cans of vegetables and beans, and meat such as chicken and pork butts.

The Texas Land & Cattle Company steak house chain has joined forces with the 100 Club of Central Texas to provide aid for West. Dine out at any of their 26 locations statewide on Sunday, April 21st and they will donate 20% of their net sales to first responder families..

Sunday, April 28

Blogger Drew Thornley of ManUpTexasbbq got busy and put together a local barbecue benefit for West with the folks at La Barbecue (1502 S. First St.). Make a cash donation there Sunday, April 28th for the opportunity to enjoy live music, free beverages, and free chopped beef sandwiches as long as the supply lasts.

Saturday, May 4

Blogger and baker Kathryn Hutchison of AustinBakes and AustinGastronomist is enlisting home and professional bakers alike to contribute to Austin Bakes4West, an all-day, multi-location bake sale to raise money to support the work of AmeriCares in West. Bakers may sign up to volunteer at austingastronomist@gmail.com. Bake sale locations will be announced next week and we’ll update that information on this blog.

A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.

Support the Chronicle  

One click gets you all the newsletters listed below

Breaking news, arts coverage, and daily events

Keep up with happenings around town

Kevin Curtin's bimonthly cannabis musings

Austin's queerest news and events

Eric Goodman's Austin FC column, other soccer news

Information is power. Support the free press, so we can support Austin.   Support the Chronicle