By Brynna Williamson
You know, sometimes it’s wonderful to have the job I have. When people ask me what I do, I’ll say, “I’m a writer. I write for such-and-such publications, and I love my job because I get to write about good things.”
I get to write about happy things in my hometown and my county, and I get to deal with people who are proud of what they do. Not everyone can do that for a living, and I consider myself very blessed to be able to do so.
Writing a story like this one I’m about to tell you is a great example of why I love doing what I do. To make it simple, here’s what this story is about: a little nonprofit that started just a few years ago in Mineola. This organization feeds the lonely, the widows, the low-income, and the just plain overworked during the holidays, when the need is most keenly felt.
Here’s how the story goes.
The Mineola Community Friends
Once upon a time, there was a woman named Brandi O’Shea. Brandi was a social work student at UT Tyler, along with her best friend, Wendi Warren. O’Shea and Warren “dream about a lot of things,” said O’Shea, so one day, in talking about “social work type programs, community programs, (and) things that we wanted to do,” they also started talking about life, their plans, and the difference they wanted to make in the world.
“Communities in action was kind of important to us,” said O’Shea. “We knew that there had been other (things) similar, where people could come and eat free; and it just kind of started there.”
The only thing is, the idea to give the entire community free meals and friendship soon turned from mere daydreaming to beginning to sound really good—and perhaps even plausible. Soon, the seeds of the Mineola Community Friends had been planted.
“Once we saw the reaction and the need in the community, we just kind of ran with it,” said O’Shea. While they’re already looking to expand into bigger and brighter futures ahead (even more work with the public), the Mineola Community Friends is an organization that exists to bring community members—or even anyone outside our Wood County, Texas community—together. It’s a place where anyone who needs a friend can find a friend—a place that ensures that, at least for the three major holidays (Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas), no one is forgotten about, and no one slips through the cracks.
Here’s what they do. For each of these three major holidays, the Mineola Community Friends (MCF) puts on a huge community meal at the popular local restaurant, Logan’s Place. Logan’s, as it is affectionately called here in Wood County, is actually closed as a restaurant on these days. However, for the MCF events, Logan himself, as well as O’Shea, Warren, and many others, come out to serve the community a free meal inside his building. Several local organizations pitch in to help pay for the meal, and many volunteers—both from these businesses and individuals from around Wood County—come together to cook and serve the food itself.
MCF isn’t just a charity. In fact, Brandi herself says that she prefers spending her holidays serving, since she doesn’t have family in the area either. In other words, this is a nonprofit created by people who “get it,” for people who “get it.”
“I know what it’s like to spend the holidays alone,” said O’Shea. “Mineola Community Friends began with a simple idea: No one should spend the holidays alone,” says MCF’s website.
And They’re Always Glad You Came
See, the Mineola Community Friends events aren’t just for those who are alone on the holidays, either, not at all. They’re literally, as O’Shea has said, for everybody. There are no income questionnaires at the door, there are no tickets, there are no people asking if you’re by yourself or not. Just come as you are, and welcome.
“Anybody. There (are) no restrictions. They can come from out of state if they want to. Just take part in the little community that we’re building,” said O’Shea. “We wanted to give people places to go—for a community where they didn’t have any kind of expectation, they could just show up and enjoy. It’s literally supposed to be for any and everybody.”
MCF events, we can see, are for anyone. It’s maybe for those who don’t have family around, yes. But it’s also for those who are between a rock and a hard place financially and would have difficulty coming up with “the full spread” for a traditional holiday meal. It’s also for those who just want to celebrate but aren’t mobile, or are working. The MCF does free meal deliveries to the employees of “any place that’s open” on the day of the holiday itself and also to anyone who requests a delivery via the MCF delivery signup sheet.
You Want to Go Where You Can Know
The Mineola Community Friends think that what they do is pretty great. And apparently, quite a bit of Wood County, Texas thinks so, too. According to Logan, the event “grows each time we do it.”
In 2025, “Friendsgiving,” as it’s now called, fed between 450-475 people. These people were from seven different zip codes (information offered voluntarily via survey; there are no questions you have to answer in order to participate), and who knows how many towns. They even had someone from Arkansas stop in to get a meal for this Thanksgiving celebration.
“From the time we opened until about 30 minutes before we were getting ready to shut the thing down (at 3:00 p.m.), we had a full house,” said O’Shea. “(We) could not have asked for it to go better, honestly.”
To mention these almost 500 people who were fed doesn’t even count the 60-70 volunteers who came to give their time on Thanksgiving day; or the sponsors who helped to make it all happen. “We had so many people, (and) so many volunteers. It was just really great,” said O’Shea.
The volunteers are so glad to do it.
“(It’s worth it), absolutely,” said Logan. “It feels good to do stuff like that.”
So what’s in the future for MCF? Did you miss this good thing, which is currently in its third year? To give you a short answer, nope! You didn’t miss a thing. “We’re in the books from now until time ends,” said O’Shea with a smile in her voice.
The MCF “Friendsmas” event is, as always, on Christmas day, at Logan’s Place. Their “Friendster” (Easter) event is—you guessed it—on Easter day, at Logan’s Place. And in 2026, Warren and O’Shea are planning on continuing to grow, continuing to expand, and continuing to help more people. Just keep an eye on their Facebook page, and on their website, for all of the information you need.
“It’s dreaming big still,” said O’Shea, “But if we put our minds to it, I’m sure that we can make it happen.”