HSU Students Volunteer at H-E-B Feast of Sharing

(ABILENE, Texas)–HSU students from the Cowboy Band and Dr. Tim Chandler’s COMM1301 classes volunteered at two H-E-B Feast of Sharing events in Fort Worth and Abilene. The Cowboy Band performed at the Will Rogers Coliseum in Fort Worth on Nov. 6, and Dr. Chandler’s class volunteered at the Abilene Convention Center on Dec. 10.

Feast of Sharing is the culmination of a year‑round commitment H‑E‑B makes to fighting hunger. In addition to a holiday meal the community enjoyed music, arts and crafts, kids activities, and a visit from Santa. An average Feast of Sharing dinner serves 3,000 pounds of sliced turkey, 2,500 pounds of cornbread dressing, 750 pumpkin pies, 380 gallons of mashed potatoes, and 140 gallons of turkey gravy. Abilene’s feast served over 7,000 people, and Fort Worth’s served about 9,000.

Music for a Cause

The Cowboy Band performed at the event in Fort Worth for their fifth consecutive year, providing entertainment as people enjoyed their meals. The band performed many songs including “The Eyes of Texas,” “In the Stone,” “Cotton Fields,” “Show Opener,” “Hey Baby,” “Big Noise,” and “Happy Trails.”

Bill Harden, assistant professor of music and director of bands, says Feast of Sharing is a great public service outreach that allows the band to perform for a large audience, many of whom have never heard the Cowboy Band before.

“Many of the students get a real thrill at this event because of the crowd reactions,” he said. “From the looks on the crowd’s faces, the responses from the crowd, and the organizers, we are one of the big hits of the event.”

Learning by Doing

Dr. Tim Chandler, professor of communication, has been taking students to volunteer at this event for the last eight years. Every year, they have the opportunity to Students help serve drinks, prepare plates, serve food, bus tables, clean spills, and take out trash at the event.

“I try to get students from my speech communication class to volunteer for this for several reasons,” Chandler said. “It gets them involved in our community and lets them see how different groups in Abilene work together to make a difference for folks in need.”

Chandler enjoys the chance to interact with his students outside the classroom in this unique way.

“It is also a good example of how effective communication is necessary among different agencies and people to make an event like this possible, and it is a great way to illustrate how a large company like HEB can reach out to relate to their customers and build good public relations,” he said.

Chandler hopes to show the community that HSU students are willing to serve and to teach HSU students the value of such service.

“I hope by involving students in this it allows them to reflect on how they have been blessed and how it is a blessing to be able to help others in even seemingly small ways,” he said.