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Help cook and deliver Christmas meals to first responders on duty

Hill Country Santa Meals

Not everyone gets to enjoy Christmas with their families, such as Highland Lakes first responders who will be on duty during the holiday. Hill Country Santa Meals is organizing volunteers to cook meals, make desserts and sides, and deliver the the food to area first responders. Contact Jeff Sellers at 830-613-8926 or jeffsellers@johnsonsewell.com to volunteer or for more information. Courtesy photo

What started as one family’s Christmas gift to Highland Lakes first responders on duty has grown into a community-wide effort.

And more help is needed.

“My family and I have been doing this for various agencies for the past few years. The people who have been involved have been blessed by participating,” said Jeff Sellers, an organizer of Hill Country Santa Meals. “This is a great opportunity for kids to be involved as well.”

Hill Country Santa Meals cooks and delivers Christmas Eve and Christmas Day meals to first responders on duty so their neighbors can safely revel in the memorable moments of the holidays. Sellers is seeking more volunteers to help with the purchasing, cooking, and delivering of meals.

Johnson Sewell Ford & Lincoln is donating the turkeys and hams. The turkeys will need to be cooked, so organizers hope volunteers will step forward to help with that. Other needs include people who can prepare sides and desserts as well as provide bread, plates, and utensils.

Sellers has identified a number agencies for which Hill Country Santa Meals wants to provide dinners: Marble Falls Area Volunteer Fire Department, Marble Falls Area EMS, Marble Falls Fire Rescue, Marble Falls Police Department, Horseshoe Bay Fire Department, Horseshoe Bay Police Department, Burnet Fire Department, Burnet Police Department, Burnet County Sheriff’s Office, Texas Department of Public Safety troopers, Granite Shoals Fire Department, Granite Shoals Police Department, Hoover Valley Volunteer Fire Department, and Spicewood Volunteer Fire Department-EMS.

Ultimately, Sellers hopes he can get volunteer coordinators for each location — some of the units might dine together — as well as people to cook and deliver meals on Christmas Eve.

“Typically, we deliver between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Christmas Eve,” Sellers said.

He added that he would like to get all the volunteers signed up by December 14.

Contact Sellers at 830-613-8926 or jeffsellers@johnsonsewell.com to volunteer or for more information.

editor@thepicayune.com