Barbecue benefit will help fund Bertram-area Meals on Wheels
JARED FIELDS • PICAYUNE STAFF
BURNET — Budget cuts have put the future of the Bertram-area Meals on Wheels service in question.
But those concerns don’t worry a group of people fighting to continue helping those who need the service.
“I go and I see the families; they aren’t people who can live without us,” said Teresa Wall, who delivers two Meals on Wheels routes a week in Burnet County. “Sometimes, it’s the only meal they get in a day. The need is there, and I want to help the Bertram community.”[box]IF YOU GO
WHAT: Barbecue fundraiser for Bertram-area Meals on Wheels
WHEN: 7-9 p.m. Aug. 9
WHERE: Oaks Nursing Center, 507 W. Jackson St. in Burnet
COST: $5 per plate, $1 desserts; dine in or carry out
MENU: Brisket, potato salad, baked beans, tea[/box]
Wall, the admissions coordinator for Oaks Nursing Center in Burnet, drives a route in Burnet and in Kingsland each week.
And to assist the people of Bertram who rely on the meals, Wall is helping raise money for the service at Oaks Nursing Center, 507 W. Jackson St., with a barbecue fundraiser 7-9 p.m. Aug. 9.
“We’ll have a DJ, a bouncy house for kids and a Western theme,” Wall said. “It will be loud and fun.”
The dinner of brisket, potato salad, baked beans and more is $5 per plate. Plates can be boxed to go, as well.
Along with the barbecue plate, Wall said there will be desserts for $1, a chance to win a basket of items donated by area businesses and a silent auction of pies and cakes.
Bertram Mayor Dickie Allen said feeding the eight people who rely on the daily meal in Bertram costs about $420 a week. Since the city learned the service would be discontinued in June, individual donations have come in that will fund the service through the end of September. What happens after that is unknown.
“The good thing that came out of it was that people responded and really came out and helped out the people that needed help,” Allen said.
Wall said the previous fundraiser at Oaks, which benefitted Mad Dawg Santa, raised more than $1,000. She hopes for a similar outcome from this fundraiser.
“We’ve had everything donated, so everything to be raised is going 100 percent to Bertram,” Wall said. “The money goes to Burnet Meals on Wheels, and they know that what we’re raising is going to fund Bertram.”
jared@thepicayune.com