Biker group donates turkeys to soup kitchen Posted On: Tuesday, Nov. 24 2009 05:06 AM By Mason W. Canales
Killeen Daily Herald

Clad in leather and riding on metal hogs, the Borinqueneers drove through Killeen wielding turkeys for Mission Soup Kitchen Inc. Monday.

"The turkeys will go to families with children," the kitchen's director, Lillian Ortega, said to the crowd of bikers.

Ortega explained how the kitchen operates by giving food to about 40 to 50 hungry community members five days a week.

Thanksgiving is an important day to those who are hungry, too, she said after the Borinqueneers delivered between 15 and 20 turkeys, along with other food items, to the kitchen.

The Borinqueneers put together the meals that will go into delivered Thanksgiving baskets through private donations of the club members, Borinqueneers member Sylvia Campos said.

"It is not about us; it is about helping others," Campos said.

The Borinqueneers is a motorcycle club with members from Temple to Killeen to Copperas Cove, member Juan Rivera said. It claims its name in honor of Puerto Rico's 65th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. Army, which fought in World War I, World War II and other conflicts.

One of the club's goals is to help local charities.

The Mission Soup Kitchen will hold its Thanksgiving celebration from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Central Christian Church, 1301 Trimmier Road, instead of its normal location downtown.

Donations such as the ones the Borinqueneers made on Monday help the kitchen provide the service it does for those in need, Ortega said.

"We are blessed by the community," Ortega said. "This community takes care of its own."