HOUSTON – The City Wide Club of America, the organization that hosts the Christmas Eve Super Feast, says they are deeply concerned and frustrated after they say they were forced to throw out a significant amount of prepared food after an inspection by the Houston Health Department.
City Wide Club leadership says this happened without consultation or approval from the organization’s executive director or senior leadership and it is the first time in the event’s 47-year history that something like this has happened.
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“City Wide Club of America has safely served millions of meals over nearly five decades and has maintained a longstanding record of compliance and cooperation with city agencies and health officials,” a press release from the organization said.
“This decision has put our ability to serve every family at serious risk,” said City Wide Club leadership. “At this moment, we are working urgently to determine whether we will be able to meet the needs of the tens of thousands of Houstonians who depend on this event every Christmas Eve.”
The organization says they are requesting immediate clarification from the Houston Health Department regarding:
- The specific rationale for discarding the prepared food
- Why City Wide Club leadership was not consulted prior to the decision
- Whether appropriate supervisory review and established protocols were followed
“City Wide Club also expressed concern that the inspectors involved may not have been fully familiar with the operational scale and long-established procedures required for an emergency feeding effort of this magnitude,” the press release reads.
“This incident comes at a time when families are facing SNAP reductions, job losses, and unprecedented holiday need,” leadership added. “Our focus remains on the people—children, seniors, and veterans—who rely on Super Feast for a warm meal and dignity on Christmas Eve.”
The City Wide Club of America says they are calling on city leadership for immediate review, transparency, and collaboration to ensure no family goes hungry due to this disruption.
Preparations continue at the George R. Brown Convention Center, Exhibit Hall D, as the organization works to secure additional resources and volunteer support.
KPRC 2 has reached out to the City of Houston for a statement.
Organizers speak
Speaking Tuesday evening, organizers called the move unnecessary and said the reasoning they were given as to why the food was thrown out was because it didn’t “cool fast enough.”
National Director of the City Wide Club Leroy Woodard said the three inspectors that showed up threw freshly prepared food away in an upstairs dumpster in front of the volunteers that had prepared the food. He says they were distraught.
“For them to witness them do that was a slap in the face,” Woodard said. “It was stupid, it was wrong, it was insensitive.”
He says they have never had an incident with the health department and the three inspectors who came out there are people he recognized.
“These officials are all veterans of our feast and they know the rhythm of how we prepare and for them to make a decision without reasoning is wrong,” he said.
He says when he got a hold of somebody at the health department, they walked away from the call.
“I was not given a call and when I did get them on the phone, the health department, one of the officials walked away while I was talking,” he said.
Asked about the reasoning given as to why the food was thrown out, Woodard said the reasoning given wouldn’t mean the food was bad.
“Absolutely nothing, it takes a moment to cool down, but the food was still fresh, it was not spoiled,” he said.
He says he feels very disrespected about the way the organization was treated.
“Especially for an organization of our caliber, of almost 50 years of service in this city, to not respect the repour of this organization was very disrespectful, because I don’t witness that at the rodeo, I don’t witness that at other public events, its like Super Feast is targeted with an overwhelming of health officials and its unnecessary,” he said.
As to how many families this may affect at Wednesday’s event, Woodard says they don’t know.
They are calling on the people of Houston to help them. Those who can volunteer are asked to show up starting at 7:30 a.m. at Exhibit Hall D at the George R. Brown Convention Center. They still have to finish cooking what they have left and are asking for donations of food, non-perishable items, dry goods, turkeys, rice, vegetables.
“Whatever food items can make up a holiday feast,” Woodard said.