St. Paul woman selling tacos to support Uvalde families
Investigators search for evidences outside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Wednesday, May 25, 2022. Desperation turned to heart-wrenching sorrow for families of grade schoolers killed after an 18-year-old gunman barricaded himself in their Texas classroom and began shooting, killing several fourth-graders and their teachers. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
A woman from St. Paul’s East Side is doing what she knows best as she grieves the loss of a family member in the deadly Texas mass shooting: making tacos for the community.
Bianca Cervantes says she’s done this in the past when those close to her develop cancer or need to pay for a funeral – now, she’s making her signature birria tacos to raise money for her family in Uvalde, Texas, who lost a young girl too soon.
“It’s been pretty tough,” Cervantes said, adding, “my silver lining is holding my kids at night knowing that they’re safe, but it’s tough because not everybody got to do that.”
Orders are already being taken, and Cervantes said to call Friday morning if you’d like an order. All proceeds will go to the families of Eliahna Torres and Lexi Rubio, both fourth-graders who were killed in the shooting.
Torres is a family friend, and Rubio is Cervantes’ cousin’s niece.
While she’s called St. Paul home all her life, Cervantes says her mother was once a student at the school at the heart of pain, Robb Elementary School in Uvalde.
“It’s just been really tough not being able to be there,” she added.
That’s why she’s doing what she does, smoking chicken thighs overnight, prepping the cilantro white rice, and serving up tacos for those who’d like to help.
GoFundMe accounts have also been set up for the two families.