‘Come and get it’: Texas Catholic charity gives away nearly 50,000 pounds of potatoes

Local residents collect potatoes from Catholic Charities of the Texas Panhandle on May 17, 2024. / Credit: Catholic Charities of the Texas Panhandle

CNA Staff, May 25, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

A Catholic charity in Texas managed to give away nearly 25 tons of potatoes to the local community after receiving the massive donation as part of a food drive.

Catholic Charities of the Texas Panhandle’s Interfaith Hunger Project “received a HUGE donation of potatoes” from an anonymous donor earlier this month, the group said in a press release.

“And by HUGE, we’re talking the 50,000-pound range,” the charity said. “Because there’s no way we can distribute that many potatoes to our clients before they go bad, we are inviting anyone in the public to come and take as many as they can use FREE of charge.”

The charity had already distributed “more than 12,000 pounds to other local nonprofits,” but roughly 35,000 pounds of the spuds were still remaining.

“So, come and get it. There’s plenty for everyone who wants it,” the charity said.

Kelly James, the director of development at the Texas charity, told CNA that the remaining 18 tons of potatoes were collected in a matter of hours after they invited the public to take them.

“[We] opened it up Friday morning at 9 and we gave them all away in less than three hours,” James said.

The charity “had originally planned to give out potatoes on an additional date,” the group said, but “because of the overwhelming response” there were no potatoes available for a second date.

The charity’s Interfaith Hunger Project “serves needy residents 50 years of age and older within the Texas Panhandle as well as the disabled of any age or financial need,” the group said.

Catholic Charities of the Texas Panhandle is located in Amarillo, Texas, under the diocese of the same name.

The charity says on its website that Bishop Rudolph Gerken established the group in 1932. It was originally called Catholic Family Service and works to combat “food insecurity, poor vision, lack of English language proficiency, and a lack of cultural understanding.”