SAN ANTONIO – Plans to hold a food distribution event inside a downtown San Antonio apartment building Wednesday morning apparently had to be scrapped at the last minute, forcing the group that organized it to move outdoors.
Members of the tenants’ union for the Robert E. Lee Apartments say the original plan was to have the San Antonio Food Bank set up inside the lobby of their high-rise building.
Instead, they say they found out on Tuesday from the building’s management that the event they had been planning for weeks could not be held there after all.
“Management, I guess they saw our flyers, which were up throughout the building. I guess they saw them and got upset,” said Kassandra Khaled, a member of the union.
What is not clear yet is the reason for the decision.
A manager who showed up at the outdoor giveaway directed all questions to a corporate office.
KSAT 12 News left a message and emailed that office Wednesday morning but did not get a response.
Instead of arriving at the originally scheduled location, a truck with the San Antonio Food Bank logo pulled up to a nearby curb.
Staff members then began unloading boxes of food and cases of sports drinks for the giveaway.
Khaled said the change to hold the event outdoors created an unnecessary burden for tenants of the building, many of whom need help to make ends meet and to get around.
“We have many handicapped and elderly tenants. Many tenants who are on the verge of being indigent,” she said. “They have a food insecurity issue. It’s important to get help to them.”
Teresa Blanchard, a tenant who arrived in a wheelchair, called the change an inconvenience.
“I can’t say a little. It’s a lot inconvenient,” Blanchard said. “If we were able to do it in the building, it would’ve helped a lot more.”
Blanchard was fortunate enough to have family members help her carry her load back down the street to her apartment building.
In other cases, more able-bodied neighbors helped those who were struggling to get around with canes and walkers.
The Robert E. Lee building, which provides affordable housing, was the subject of a KSAT 12 News story just last month. It had to do with the potential sale of the building to a developer, a move that could create an uncertain future for the people who live there now.
Khaled can’t help but wonder whether management’s opposition to holding the food giveaway on the property somehow might be tied to that.
“I think it’s intimidation, and it’s deliberately trying to stop help from reaching the people that live here,” she said.
Despite the hurdles, Khaled said, all the tenants who wanted to take part in the food giveaway were able to get that help.
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