COLLEGE STATION, November 25, 2022 – With the holiday season starting up, there are many things for Brazos Valley residents to be thankful for, including two College Station women who are helping to make this time just a little brighter for families in need. Business owner, Jill Fouch, and school district employee, Lauren Puente, have been working hard this holiday season to provide fully cooked hams for families in the Brazos Valley through their Holiday Ham Drive.
The inspiration for this project was derived from Fouch’s youngest daughter many years ago. “My youngest daughter, who has a birthday in late October, decided her seventh-grade year that she wanted to collect donations for the Wellborn Middle School food bank instead of receiving gifts that year,” says Fouch. “Wellborn Middle School was building up their food bank at that time, and there was a need in the community for kids to be able to shop at the food bank at the school before they went home for the weekend over the holidays. A lot of students depend on school lunches to eat and this just made it easier for them to depend on having that food over the holidays.”
Fouch pointed out that “a lot of the families that are in need of this food don’t have ovens to cook the traditional turkeys in.” Puente, a school district employee, saw firsthand the effects of these conditions on the students in her school and knew that a fully cooked ham would be more convenient for these families. Thus, the Holiday Ham Drive was born.
Families within the Bryan, College Station and Navasota school districts work with Fouch and Puente to identify those students who are in need during the holiday season. Fouch says, “we normally work with the middle and high schools because those kids are the ones that are typically forgotten about when it comes to this type of need.”
Fouch closed the interview with “I hope everyone has a happy holiday season!” A happy holiday season indeed for the families these wonderful College Station women are helping provide to those in our local community.
Donations are accepted through Venmo @Holiday-Ham year-round to provide for the holiday season.
You may also reach out to Jill Fouch at (979)777-1139 to find out more ways to contribute and get involved.