ARLINGTON, Texas — There’s something about warm BBQ on a chilly day.
And that's basically how Rene Ramirez of 225 BBQ got the idea.
“When I’m out here smoking all night, I see a lot of homeless people out in the streets. So if I’m cold, I know they’re cold,” Ramirez said.
He and his wife, Joyce Paz, own 225 BBQ.
Their offer is simple: On Sunday, Jan. 9, bring a new or lightly used coat to donate to Arlington Life Shelter, and they’ll give you some free BBQ.
“We’re here for one another. And that’s the example we want to set,” Paz said. “We try to give back as much as we can.”
Customers at 225 BBQ have already filled six large boxes full of coats since Friday.
It’s been cold in North Texas lately. And not everybody has the proper gear.
“That's something that we've noticed firsthand,” Kirkpatrick Elementary Principal Nancy Atkinson said. “We were like, ‘Why aren’t our kiddos wearing socks?’”
“We have a large population of students who are economically disadvantaged, so any way that we can help our students, we want to help them any way that we can.”
Her Fort Worth ISD students are excited to be receiving new, donated shoes through Operation Warm at the end of the month.
Now, the school needs your help to make sure the kids have socks to go with those shoes.
“I think a lot of people don't realize that a lot of students who are economically disadvantaged don't have those basic things,” Atkinson said.
You can drop off brand new socks at Kirkpatrick Elementary (3229 Lincoln Ave, Fort Worth, TX 76106) from Monday, Jan. 10, to Friday, Jan. 14, between 7:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.
“We just want our students to be safe and warm and comfortable while they're at school,” Atkinson said.