Winter Texans take Christmas gifts to Valley families

MISSION — Victor and Maria Vega had only $3 to spend on each of their five children this Christmas.

Usually, their children’s teachers at Leo J. Leo Elementary School stop by their rusted, run-down home on Canadiana Lane in Mission on Christmas Eve to drop off a few presents.

This year, Christmas will be a little more memorable than in years past.

A caravan of Winter Texans from Bentsen Palm Village RV Resort arrived at the Vega residence about 1 p.m. Thursday bearing a tractor-trailer full of gifts, food and the other items.

Annie Walsh, a resident of Bentsen Palm Village, organized the gift drive with the United Way, which helped to identify two families for the park’s residents to help. This marks the fifth year Walsh and her fellow residents of the RV park have taken needy Rio Grande Valley families under their wings during the holidays, she said.

“We never expected anything this big,” Victor said in Spanish as the Winter Texans were getting back into their cars to drop off gifts to another family. “Maybe one or two gifts, because the school usually helps out.”

About two dozen Winter Texan carolers sang “Feliz Navidad” to the family when they arrived at the home. Then an older, curiously skinny Santa Claus emerged from a blue Ford Explorer with a black trash bag full of gifts slung over his shoulder.

Dressed as the jolly old fellow, Ted Ross, of Ontario, Canada, sat down on a lawn chair in the Vegas’ dusty front yard and handed stockings stuffed full of goodies to Sandor, Julio, Nayla, Cristobal and 2-year-old Jessica. Even Victor and Maria took a turn on Santa’s lap, prompting a few good laughs.

Walsh said all of the gifts came from Bentsen Palm Village residents, who went out and bought everything based on the needs the United Way identified.

“That’s the Winter Texan way of giving back,” said Walsh, who comes to the Valley from Ontario, Canada, with her husband for six months out of the year. “We don’t just come down here and enjoy the weather and the sunshine. We see the need in the Valley and we want to help, and that’s our way to show we care.”

After Santa delivered all the presents to the Vega family, the Bentsen Palm Village residents carried boxes of food, diapers, a shelf, even a new, stainless steel grill into their home.

The children’s school teachers and their principal from Leo J. Leo Elementary were there, as well.

Principal Maria Flores Guerra said that despite the family’s hardships, the Vega children are good students and rarely miss a day of school. Victor and Maria are hard workers and are constantly trying to provide for their family despite several setbacks.

Their house almost burned down three years ago, Guerra said, and Victor has been trying to rebuild it ever since.

The two-story home is barely held together. Exposed drywall and plywood cover several holes. The house stands near the end of Canadiana Lane in a diverse neighborhood of both brand-new and graffiti-marred homes.

After the Walshes and the rest of the Winter Texans unloaded the trailer, they sang happy birthday to Maria — whose birthday is Christmas Day — and piled back into their caravan of SUVs and trucks.

They were off to Alton to drop off more gifts to the Lozano family.

“We’re just emotionally drained,” Walsh said. “It was such a great Christmas feeling to know that we’ve made someone’s Christmas so much brighter. We got a fantastic amount of money in cash that we still haven’t used, and we want to continue to help (the Vegas) as much as we can.”

Nick Pipitone covers McAllen, PSJA, the Mid-Valley and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4446.