HOUSTON, Dec. 2, 2019 – Money Mart Pawn and Jewelry split a donation of 5864 pounds of food last week between Houston Food Bank and San Antonio Food Bank, providing approximately 5800 meals to struggling Texans this holiday season, according to Cathy Gish, vice president of the company.

“Donations of this size are extremely helpful in our mission to fight hunger, especially during the holiday season,” said San Antonio Food Bank Corporate Giving Manager, Chloe Palacios. “We are so grateful for the support of Money Mart.”

Money Mart Pawn and Jewelry, which has 12 stores in and around Houston, has a long history of feeding people in need during the holidays.

“We have been helping the food banks for 5 to 6 years, but previously each store would pick an individual family to sponsor for Thanksgiving and Christmas,” said Gish. “We have been providing holiday meals in one way or another for the last 15 years. We want to support our communities and give back in a meaningful way.”

Coordinating large food donations in two major cities on the same day is difficult, but this event has been perfected into a well-choreographed production. Gish said it starts each year when the company receives a list of the top ten most needed foods by the food banks. She said the company orders the food from Sam’s Club in both Houston and San Antonio. On the “Donation Day”, as it is affectionately called, 15–20 store managers in each city load four pallets of food into a vehicle. In San Antonio, they use a company van, so it takes around an hour to load each item. In Houston they have small trailer, which makes the loading much faster. The food is delivered to the food banks and unloaded.

“I got emotional knowing how much we are donating to help those in need. You tend to forget that there’s a lot of families less fortunate than us. It makes you feel very grateful and blessed to be helping out several families,” one store manager said.

Money Mart Pawn and Jewelry, owned by Brittex Financial Inc., has stores in 26 locations in San Antonio, Houston, and their surrounding areas. Money Mart values customer confidence by ensuring all pawnbrokers at Money Mart Pawn and Jewelry are licensed pawnbrokers who have passed an FBI background check, even though not required by law. Money Mart Pawn and Jewelry has a Google rating of 4.7 and has earned a Better Business Bureau (BBB) rating of A+.