San Antonio doctor raises funds to provide free lunches to Alamodome vaccination volunteers

A San Antonio doctor helping give COVID-19 vaccinations at the Alamodome noticed another unfilled need and has now taken matters into his own hands.

As he assisted at the mass vaccination site, Dr. Francisco Arredondo saw the nearly 150 volunteers working around the clock and wanted to make sure every one of them is fed. As a result, he set up a Facebook Fundraiser to request donations to buy lunches for vaccination volunteers.

"The amazing citizens of San Antonio are volunteering to vaccinate as many people as possible," Arredondo wrote on the campaign page. "Please help me provide lunch for these heroes."

At press time, the fundraiser had pulled in $8,819 dollars from 111 people over 19 days. That surpassed Arredondo's $8,000 campaign goal.

Over the weekend, the San Antonio Zoo's catering crew delivered a truckload of boxed lunches to the Alamodome.

"Restaurants including Fralo's Pizza and a local Subway have already pitched in with discounted meals, just as San Antonio Zoo's catering team did this weekend," Arredondo — a reproductive endocrinology and infertility specialist — said in a press release.

San Antonio Zoo President and CEO Tim Morrow said the effort to feed volunteers is also providing much-needed business to local restaurants and to his own organization's catering department.

"By raising funds on his own personal Facebook page and then purchasing catered meals from the zoo and local restaurants, the community can help support volunteers at the Alamodome, as well as our zoo and local restaurants, which have been impacted by the pandemic," he said in a release.

Seven days remain in the fundraiser, which encourages donations of $1 to $500.

"The virus has hit the community very hard and has destroyed many lives. Now is the time to focus on building our new lives," Arredondo said. "This collective effort to make sure everyone is vaccinated is the first step to constructing a new way of life. Destruction is the past. Construction is the future. Let's build a better San Antonio!"

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