KILLEEN, Texas — As the holidays kick into full swing in Central Texas, H-E-B is doing its part to give the gift of food and fun back to the community.
The chain is preparing to host its annual Feast of Sharing events across the state, including dinners in Temple, Killeen and Waco.
This year's Feast of Sharing will be back in person, and the chain has said that they are excited to welcome back members of the community to celebrate with them.
H-E-B and its Mobile Kitchens will be serving "Texas-style" meals at all of its dinner locations throughout the state. A full schedule of the events can be found at H-E-B Newsroom's Feast of Sharing calendar.
A meal in Temple will take place Thursday, Dec. 8 at the Mayborn Convention Center.
Both the Killeen and the Waco events will take place on Tuesday, Dec. 13. The Killeen dinner will reportedly take place at the Killeen Civic and Conference Center at 3601 S W S Young Dr., and the Waco event will be at the Waco Convention Center at 100 Washington Ave.
Both dinners will run from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
In addition to meals, the events will also host music, activities for families, free services such as health screenings and flu vaccinations, and maybe even a visit from Santa himself.
H-E-B employees in some cities will also be delivering hot meals to homebound seniors and others who are unable to attend the in-person dinner.
H-E-B is also launching a Feast of Sharing in Houston this year, where it plans to host a drive-thru meal distribution to give out over 20,000 meals.
The Feast of Sharing is a series of holiday gatherings that serve over 340,000 meals across 34 dinners throughout Texas and Mexico. The dinners are open to the public, and hope to bring together family, friends and neighbors.
The program began in 1989, and over the years has seen over 350,000 volunteers serve nearly four million meals.
Feast of Sharing is part of H-E-B's Hunger Relief Program, which works throughout the year to prevent hunger. According to H-E-B, last year the program was able to donate 34 million pounds of food to families in need.
Since the Hunger Relief Program was founded in 1982, H-E-B says they have donated over one billion pounds of food to 5,500 non-profit organizations across Texas and Mexico.