TEXARKANA, Texas -- After three years of staging at the armory near Spring Lake Park, followed by 20 years at the Southwest Center, the annual Bramlett Beans and Cornbread Community Fundraiser will have a new home next week.
The charity event, now in its 23rd year, will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday at the Texarkana, Texas, Convention Center near Central Mall.
For either a $5 contribution or a donation of six non-perishable food items, residents can take in a helping of beans and cornbread, along with tea, coffee and dessert, with all event proceeds going benefit the Twin-Cities' Christmas Basket program.
Suggested non-perishable food items include canned items such as soups, assorted vegetables, fruits, stews, tuna and canned chicken, while packaged donated goods can include rice, macaroni, pasta, sauces instant potatoes, instant oatmeal, grits, cereals pastries and snack cakes, along with necessities such as flour, sugar, oatmeal, dry beans, crackers, cookies, candy and peanuts.
Former Texarkana, Texarkana, Texas, Mayor James Bramlett said this volunteer effort to provide holiday food for Texarkana area citizens came in 1998 from Laurie Williams, a Texas-side Parks & Recreation Department employee at the time.
Since its inception, the fundraiser has been supported by both sides of Texarkana and Texarkana Water Utilities.
Bramlett attributed the move to the convention center to a need for more parking spaces.
(For more information, call the Texas-side Parks & Recreation Department at 903- 798-3978.)