“Comida” food drive enters sixteenth year

City of Houston Mayor Lee P. Brown recently joined Chief of Police C. 0. Bradford to launch the annual “Comida” Food Drive. This is the sixteenth year Houston police officers with Fiesta Food Marts, Inc., Pepsi-Cola and the Houston Citizens’ Police Academy Alumni Association have consolidated efforts to feed 3,500 families during the holiday season.

During the first two weeks of December, citizens and police officers will man food barrels at Fiesta Food Marts collecting food items and other donations. Inner city churches select families that are in need of food and then distribute the donated items to those families.

At a news conference, Mayor Brown urged all citizens to contribute. “One person can make a difference,” he said. “We watch as we drop food in Afghanistan, but right here in our back yard we have people who need food.”

The thirteen participating Fiesta Food Marts where donations will be accepted are:

4711 Airline
7510 Bellfort
14315 Bellaire
3803 Dunlavy
1175 Edgebrook
10401 Jensen
8130 Kirby
7061 Lawndale
5800 Lyons
1020 Quitman
800 S. Wayside
2300 N. Shepherd
6200 Bellaire

The “Comida” Food Drive began in December, 1985, with Officer Joe Dominguez’s concern for the Hispanic citizens of Houston who were less fortunate than he was. He organized what is now one of the largest food drives in Houston. For more information about this year’s drive, call Lieutenant D. R. Thornton at 713-308-3220.