Photos Courtesy of BRENHAM BLESSINGS
Chatter echoes through the kitchen as steaming casserole dishes clutter the counters. A stockpile of green beans, cranberry sauce, stuffing and sweet potatoes fills each place setting. A grand turkey is the centerpiece to this gathering of family young and old and generations in-between. But not every family can manage such a lavish spread.
Noticing a disparity during the COVID pandemic, Brenham Blessings President Austin Taylor says he wanted to find a way to help community families who were struggling to celebrate Thanksgiving. Being the small business owner of Dynamic Drains Plumbing and Drain Experts, he says he felt he could help others in their time of need since his work was considered essential so he worked to create a small team including Home Sweet Farm Biergarten owner Cameron Crawford, who donated his restaurant space for all needs, and secretaries Leah Cook and Emily Morey to make this dream a reality and provide 65 families with holiday meals.
“I thought I would have felt remiss if I didn't do something to give back to the community when I'm watching other businesses fail, as mine is prospering,” Austin says. “So, I reached out to local restaurants, who were gracious enough to donate the food and partner in this project.”
Now, the nonprofit continues to share their mission of helping area families fill their needs, especially during the holiday season. From meal preparation to delivery and coordination of beneficiary families, Austin says the group is run entirely by volunteers who just want to spread cheer while making sure families are fed a special meal during the holiday season.
In 2021, the team raised $7,000 and was able to serve 105 families with pork loin, two gourmet sides, dinner rolls and dessert to outfit their Thanksgiving tables. The packages with family-style meals are put together and delivered with participation from LJ’s BBQ, Country Sunshine, Thomas Craft Confections and volunteer help.
With a busy holiday season and a growing need for the number of meals, fundraising coordinator Vicki Herzog says the group starts meeting monthly in September to ensure everything goes smoothly during meal deliveries. She says the group hopes to continue to serve a larger number of families each year with holiday cheer and a delicious meal on the table.
“We just want to continue to grow our charity so that we help more people,” Vicki says. “Lifting up the people in your community, it'll always come back around to you 100% if you do it from the heart.”
Working with Twin City Mission, the Brenham Blessings team noticed a need around the community for things other than holiday meals, and from there the team created Brenham Shoe Blessings and Brenham Christmas Blessings to fill the gaps and make sure everyone in the community has everything they need. Last year, the organization was able to gift over 150 pairs of shoes to children nominated by Brenham ISD and the Brenham Pregnancy Center as well as Christmas gifts to 48 kids from their specific wish lists.
“We want to give them something that's not just something that they needed, but also something they wanted,” Vicki says. “I really feel like what we try to do is a lot more personalized for people.”
Since the creation of Brenham Blessings, they have become an official 501(c)3 nonprofit, which Austin says will allow them to grow and support even more people around the area.
“This is kind of like a dream come true for me — I never thought I would have started a nonprofit, I was just planning on helping out with other charities," Austin says. “When this developed, it was perfect.”
For those looking to get involved, Brenham Blessing invites monetarily donations and community members who want to volunteer their time for packaging and delivering to get in touch. The organization also needs the community to help nominate families in need in the community. For more information on how to help, visit brenhamblessings.org.
