{"id":7726,"date":"2025-12-03T19:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T19:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7726"},"modified":"2025-12-03T19:30:00","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T19:30:00","slug":"community-support-brings-veterans-early-turkey-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7726","title":{"rendered":"Community support brings Veterans early turkey time"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"tni-source-date\"><strong>Originally published:<\/strong> 2025-12-03T19:30:00+00:00. Historical source article: benefits, rules, amounts and deadlines may have changed. Check the official source for current information.<\/p>\n<p>More than 1,200 Houston-area Veterans received an early turkey dinner last week thanks to a special collaboration between the <a href=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/?s=Michael+E.+DeBakey+VA+Medical+Center\">Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center<\/a>, a group of area car dealerships and Combined Arms, a nonprofit organization that connects Veterans and their families with vital resources.<\/p>\n<p>Hundreds of Veterans lined up on a cloudy Monday morning for a drive-thru food distribution of holiday meals, complete with turkeys, sides and desserts donated by the Big Star Dealership Group and Texan Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Veteran reaction<\/h2>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/11\/HoustonVATurkeyDistribution_r1-scaled.jpg\"><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Amanda Slover and Stacy Brouwer, associate chiefs of Houston VA\u2019s Nutrition and Food Service fill up a Veteran\u2019s car with food.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Alicia, an Army Veteran from Tomball, Texas, and a single mother of two small children, arrived with a heart heavy with worry. \u201cI was down to just $22 until my payday next Friday,\u201d she said, her voice filled with emotion. \u201cI didn\u2019t know how I would provide a Thanksgiving meal for my kids. This turkey means the world to us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Shelita Magee, Houston VA\u2019s chief of Civic Engagement, explained the significance of the donation and of supporting Veterans. \u201cWhen Big Star Dealership Group approached us with this amazing donation, we knew we had to make it happen,\u201d she said. \u201cHouston VA is committed to supporting our Veterans and doing whatever we can to fight food insecurity. It was amazing to see our community come together in such a profound way.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">An army of volunteers<\/h2>\n<p>More than 25 Houston VA staff, members from local Veterans organizations and employees from the Big Star Dealership group volunteered at the event to ensure Veterans were served. VA social workers went from car to car, handing out information about resources and connecting Veterans with benefits.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/11\/HoustonVATurkeyDistribution_r2-scaled.jpg\"><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Houston VA employee volunteers lined up to fill Veterans cars with food.     <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cWhen I got the email from VA about this meal, I felt it was God\u2019s answer to my prayer,\u201d said teary-eyed Air Force Veteran Grant Omare, who shook the hands of every volunteer he could find as they put the meal in his trunk. \u201cNow I can invite my two sons over for Thanksgiving and express my thanks to the Lord for this support. I can\u2019t thank you all enough.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>John Smith, the Combined Arms Southeast Texas regional manager and a Marine Corps Veteran, jumped into action after hearing about the donation, organizing volunteers and securing a central location for the event. \u201cWe have seen requests for food assistance surge 49% since the beginning of October, while rent and mortgage aid requests are up 23 %,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are determined to support our Veterans and their families, especially over the holidays.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Fostering camaraderie among Veterans<\/h2>\n<p>The turkey giveaway not only provided meals but also fostered a sense of camaraderie among Veterans, reminding them they are not alone. \u201cI just moved here last year from the East Coast and I am so impressed with how the community here comes together to support Veterans,\u201d said Army Veteran Michael Woodward, summing up the sentiments of the day. \u201cTexas really knows how to treat us right.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"tni-attribution\">Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/143675\/community-support-brings-veterans-early-turkey\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs<\/a>. Its Veterans is an independent publication and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Over 1,200 Houston Veterans received early turkey dinners in a drive-thru event, fostering gratitude and community support.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":91,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-veteran-stories"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Community support brings Veterans early turkey time - Its Veterans<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Over 1,200 Houston Veterans received early turkey dinners in a drive-thru event, fostering gratitude and community support.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7726\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Community support brings Veterans early turkey time - Its Veterans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Over 1,200 Houston Veterans received early turkey dinners in a drive-thru event, fostering gratitude and community support.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7726\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Its Veterans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-03T19:30:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7726#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7726\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4bf835f8c5375ef33978f3169f311668\"},\"headline\":\"Community support brings Veterans early turkey time\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-03T19:30:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7726\"},\"wordCount\":566,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7726#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/vet-456-74.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Community &amp; Veteran Stories\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7726\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7726\",\"name\":\"Community support brings Veterans early turkey time - Its Veterans\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7726#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7726#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/vet-456-74.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-03T19:30:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"Over 1,200 Houston Veterans received early turkey dinners in a drive-thru event, fostering gratitude and community support.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7726#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7726\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7726#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/vet-456-74.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/vet-456-74.png\",\"width\":793,\"height\":793},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?p=7726#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Community support brings Veterans early turkey time\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Its Veterans\",\"description\":\"Veterans news, benefits, health and community resources\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Its Veterans\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/its-veterans-six-service-branches-flag-header-v2-2026-09-18.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/its-veterans-six-service-branches-flag-header-v2-2026-09-18.jpg\",\"width\":2172,\"height\":724,\"caption\":\"Its Veterans\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4bf835f8c5375ef33978f3169f311668\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/itsveterans.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Community support brings Veterans early turkey time - Its Veterans","description":"Over 1,200 Houston Veterans received early turkey dinners in a drive-thru event, fostering gratitude and community support.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7726","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Community support brings Veterans early turkey time - Its Veterans","og_description":"Over 1,200 Houston Veterans received early turkey dinners in a drive-thru event, fostering gratitude and community support.","og_url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7726","og_site_name":"Its Veterans","article_published_time":"2025-12-03T19:30:00+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7726#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7726"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4bf835f8c5375ef33978f3169f311668"},"headline":"Community support brings Veterans early turkey time","datePublished":"2025-12-03T19:30:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7726"},"wordCount":566,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7726#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/vet-456-74.png","articleSection":["Community &amp; Veteran Stories"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7726","url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7726","name":"Community support brings Veterans early turkey time - Its Veterans","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7726#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7726#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/vet-456-74.png","datePublished":"2025-12-03T19:30:00+00:00","description":"Over 1,200 Houston Veterans received early turkey dinners in a drive-thru event, fostering gratitude and community support.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7726#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7726"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7726#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/vet-456-74.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/vet-456-74.png","width":793,"height":793},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7726#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Community support brings Veterans early turkey time"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/","name":"Its Veterans","description":"Veterans news, benefits, health and community resources","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#organization","name":"Its Veterans","url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/its-veterans-six-service-branches-flag-header-v2-2026-09-18.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/its-veterans-six-service-branches-flag-header-v2-2026-09-18.jpg","width":2172,"height":724,"caption":"Its Veterans"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4bf835f8c5375ef33978f3169f311668","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10da73410d092638799e3fa777bd59a474d7c9d9c61105a38c73dd46c050c34f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/itsveterans.com"],"url":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7726"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7726\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/91"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}