HARLINGEN — A program to feed the poorest of the poor on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande continues nearly three decades after the death of its founder.
Frank Ferree, known as the “Border Angel” who founded Border Relief, died at age 88 in 1983.
He was honored with a large funeral in Harlingen. As he lay in his sickbed, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Ronald Reagan for his work.
Roberto Rodriguez, today’s leader of Border Relief, said he continues to make trips across the river to colonias surrounding Matamoros, as well as poor neighborhoods in Reynosa and Nuevo Progreso.
Border cities have been scarred by fighting among drug cartels, police and the Mexican army and navy, but Rodriguez said Border Relief has continued to help the poor.
“No, there is no trouble,” he said. “No problema.”
The most active supporters of Border Relief, Chuck and Dianne Hurman, who normally take turns with Rodriguez making trips year-round to Mexican border cities, are attending to a family illness in a northern state this year, Rodriguez said.
So Rodriguez and helper Adan Barba, as well as Keith Axzig of SONshine Ministries, have carried on during the Hurmans’ absence.
Axzig and wife Linda, retirees from Minnesota, also assist families in Mexico with their own ministry, Linda said.
Rodriguez and Barba rose early on a recent weekday to pick up surplus bread from local grocery stores before heading to international bridges to begin their regular runs to distribution points Border Relief has used for decades.
When the Border Relief truck arrives in a neighborhood, local volunteers are waiting to help pass out bread, pan dulce and sometimes cakes or packages of cookies, along with frozen vegetables, citrus fruit or other donated items, Dianne Hurman said.
Pinto beans and other staples are doled out into sacks brought by families, she said.
Dianne Hurman said Mexican customs rules at international bridges have tightened about what donated items Border Relief can take into Mexico.
Only food can be taken across now and Mexican customs officials check bread, baked goods and other items such as packaged frozen vegetables to ensure they have not passed their expiration dates, she said. Mexican officials are now pressing Border Relief to form an organization in Mexico. Presently, the group must be met by a representative of DIF Matamoros or DIF Reynosa who accompanies them to the distribution points.
DIF, which stands for Desarrollo Integral de la Familia, is a Mexico family welfare agency.
There are many roadblocks on the edges of cities, so police or soldiers can check cars and trucks to make sure weapons are not being transported, Dianne Hurman said. The roadblocks cause traffic delays, and the long waits at international bridges make for some long delivery days.
When he was a World War I “doughboy” in the Battle of the Argonne Forest, Ferree prayed for help from God, promising that, if his life were spared, he would help others, journalist Bill Starr wrote in his 1979 book Border Angel.
After attempts to grow citrus crops on the north edge of Harlingen came to a discouraging end due to freezes, drought and plant diseases, Ferree also tried to sell subdivision lots from land he owned in the area, Starr wrote. But Ferree became more and more interested in helping the poor and began carrying a sack containing loaves of bread, oranges or grapefruit to distribute to needy people.
Today, two recent-model vans maintained for Border Relief by Boggus Ford and Elliff Motors have replaced the battered buses and worn-out trucks Ferree once used to haul food, clothing and even building materials across the border.
But despite restrictions by Mexican authorities, and the danger posed by drug cartels, Border Relief volunteers continue the Border Angel’s work.
“We’re hanging in there,” Dianne Hurman said.
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Allen Essex is a reporter for the Valley Morning Star in Harlingen.
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HOW TO HELP
>> To donate food, money or other items to Frank Ferree Border Relief, contact Roberto Rodriguez at 2403 N. Seventh St., Harlingen, or call (956) 440-1023.
Website: www.themonitor.com/articles/decades-57687-work-group.html