Ruby’s Mexican Restaurant gives out free food in exchange of toys to benefit East Texas Crisis Center

Published 5:45 am Thursday, December 22, 2022

Keeping in mind the memories of when she couldn’t afford toys for her own children during the holidays, local business owner Ruby Abarca is giving back to the community by helping those in need receive toys for Christmas.

Abarca, owner of Ruby’s Mexican Restaurant in Tyler, started an initiative this week with the community’s help to collect toys for the women and children of the East Texas Crisis Center, a nonprofit that provides safety, shelter and education to victims of family violence, sexual assault, dating violence and other violent crime.

For three days, any customer who brought an unwrapped gift to one of the restaurant’s three locations received a free meal in return.

The community responded in a big way as tons of toys were brought in to the restaurant as donations for children of all ages, from infant to 18.

“We’ve had a good response, we have three or four full boxes of toys,” Abarca said.

Abarca was inspired to give to the local crisis center after she learned about their mission, which hits close to home. It was local community advocate Paulina Pedroza who told Abarca about the crisis center and their work, she said.

“… She knows about my life and that I have suffered from physical abuse and also moments where I didn’t have any toys in the house for my kids. Even though I’ve always worked, we’ve gone through bad times,” Abarca recalled.

“She told me about this association and ways to help. We thought about the idea of getting a toy for an exchange for a food plate,” she said.

Abarca said her goal was 100 toys, and with the support of the community, family, and friends, she has achieved that.

“It’s something very nice because you help and if other people see you doing that, they follow and they want to do it also,” she said. “I feel really good about the support, because I see that there’s a lot of heart. Just sometimes we don’t know how or where to help, but once you start stuff like this, you set an example and you might lead as an example and another business might want to do it for next year or in the future.”

As someone who has benefited from a local nonprofit during the holidays, Abarca said helping it’s important not only during this time but all the time. She also said she wanted to do this during the holidays because she understands the shortage of work in certain areas and how some families struggle this time of year.

“When it comes to helping, we need it all year round, but a lot of times the holidays are when Rose Garden workers don’t work, roofing, landscapers, a lot of times electricians, there’s not enough work around this time. A lot of times people send their checks to families in Mexico or they use the little they have. During this time we need the money the most, and us parents would like to have toys for our children,” she said. “I’ve gone through that and thank God, they donated toys to me 12 years ago for my kids, so I decided to do this because I know this is the time when people need it the most. My heart and my help is always open.”

Abarca also mentioned that she wanted to start with a local nonprofit to benefit something close to the area but hopes to expand to other areas in the future.

“It’s to start with something local, with a place that’s close. First God we would like to help more next year and in the future to other places. We wanted to start somewhere close and for them to feel it,” she said.

“Seeing my friends help feels good and helping is very nice, and I hope we can continue to do this more years and help many other places, not just East Texas Crisis Center.”

Abarca is thankful for everyone who helped raise toys on such a short notice, she said.

“Thank you to all and thank you for everything, this is something that’s not mine and I’m just returning the part that has been given to me. We’re going to leave with our hands emptied out but our hearts full. It’s just a toy, but there’s a lot of people who don’t have enough a toy,” she said.