Shell Open helps local schools, organizations

By P.J. Williams

A caravan of eight tractor trailers full of canned and boxed foods from Oklahoma-based Feed the Children pulled into the north side last Tuesday. The Chinquapin School in Highlands and the Bay Area Women’s Center were among 35 Houston charities that received a portion of the 270,000 pounds of food distributed at the Greenspoint Mall in conjunction with the Shell Houston Open.

The Women’s Center received approximately 3,000 pounds of food that they will use to feed the women in their shelter. “We have up to 25 women, and we’re usually full every day,” executive director Joyce Young said. The food will also be used in food baskets for women who come in for counseling and need assistance. “We usually purchase food from the food bank at a reduced rate. Any food donations we receive like this really helps out,” explained Young.

According to Chuck Schillings, senior vice president of Feed the Children, the two groups have distributed food to Houston charities during the golf tournament ever since Shell Houston Open organizers contacted the relief agency almost two years ago. “As a result of the money that comes in from the Open, they are able to distribute large sums of money to Houston charities,” Schilling said.

Feed the Children, founded in 1979, distributes food, medicine, clothes, and other necessities in all 50 states and 51 foreign countries. The agency does not charge any fees for the food they donate and receiving charities must sign a waiver that they will not sell, trade, or barter the food. “It was wonderful,” Young said. “All we had to do was show up and bring our truck. They didn’t charge us a thing, and they even helped us load it. Their staff was wonderful.”