Omegas, ETAMU Staff Team Up to Provide Thanksgiving Meals to Students

Omega's and ETAMU staff turned a quiet holiday on campus into a celebration of care and community.

Students who remained on campus over the Thanksgiving holiday didn’t have to settle for microwaved ramen this year, thanks to a partnership between Omega’s Biscuits N’ Eggs restaurant in Commerce and East Texas A&M University’s Department of Health and Human Performance (HHP).

For the second year in a row, Omega’s donated fully prepared Thanksgiving meals to students. HHP faculty members Rachel Aumann and Dr. Katie Halfacre facilitated the meal distribution on campus.

The effort is part of Omega’s long-running Feeding the Community initiative, which has served free Thanksgiving meals to Commerce residents for almost a decade. The meal is prepared and hosted by Omega’s with support from several community volunteers and local sponsors.

Omega’s owner and head chef, Raul Martinez, said it’s a service of love:

“Feeding our community has never just been about serving a meal. It’s about pouring love into the people who have poured into us. Each Thanksgiving, when we look out and see nearly 1,600 faces from all walks of life — families, neighbors, elders, and now the students of East Texas A&M — it fills our hearts in a way that’s hard to put into words,” he said.

More Than a Meal

Omega’s collaboration with East Texas A&M started last year, when the diner called for local partners to distribute meals beyond the restaurant’s limited seating capacity.

“I messaged them and said, ‘This would be a really great partnership opportunity for the university because a lot of students are not going home for Thanksgiving,'” Halfacre recalled.

From there, a new partnership was formed. On Thanksgiving morning, Omega’s loaded dozens of pre-prepared meals into the back of a truck borrowed from Halfacre’s father. The truck was driven straight to the Nursing and Health Sciences Building, where students enjoyed turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, salad and donated desserts.

Although the event ensures that students have access to a holiday meal when the dining hall closes for break, its purpose extends beyond simply providing food.

“Many of these students are far from home, some spending the holiday alone, and being able to give them a warm plate and a place to belong means everything to us,” Martinez said.

“It’s about fellowship,” Halfacre added. “We want to build a sense of community.”

Growing Reach

This year, volunteers distributed 1,600 meals to Commerce residents, including 100 meals delivered specifically to students, faculty and staff at the East Texas A&M campus. Although HHP organized the on-campus event on its own, the team hopes future years will bring collaborations with other university units or community partners. For now, they're keeping the ETAMU effort intentionally small and manageable. Halfacre, Aumann and several generous staff members also donated beverages to support the event.

A Tradition in the Making

Both Halfacre and Aumann expressed appreciation to the owners of Omega’s for their generosity, and they agreed that the Thanksgiving feast has quickly become a highlight of their year.

“This is probably my favorite project, my favorite tradition that we’ve started since I’ve come to East Texas A&M,” Halfacre said.

Aumann added: “The look on students’ faces and just their overall demeanor, even if they were only there for 15 minutes to pick up a meal, made it feel really worth it to do this!”