With the help of volunteers, Central Texas Food Bank distributed almost 54 million meals last year. | Photo via Central Texas Food Bank
The holiday season is right around the corner, and if you’ve found yourself in the giving spirit, there are plenty of great causes in Austin to give your time to.
Central Texas Food Bank | From assembling food packages and cooking meals to distributing food at mobile pantries, there are plenty of ways to provide meals for food-insecure Texans.
Seedling | This non-profit provides mentors — which could be you — to local children in Kindergarten through 8th grade who are impacted by parental incarceration.
Keep Austin Fed | This organization collects excess food from grocery stores, hotels, restaurants, and schools and distributes it to local partner organizations.
Sustainable Food Center | The Sustainable Food Center supports local farmers while providing local fruits and vegetables for people who have limited access to fresh food.
Know something we don’t?Share your favorite volunteer opportunity with us.
English musician Olivia Dean, who performed at this year’s ACL Festival, will cap off her tour in Austin next year. “The Art of Loving” Live tour will take over the Moody Center on Friday, Aug. 28 — tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. this Friday, Nov. 21.
Eat
Put a visit to Industry on your calendar, because the local kitchen and bar is this year’s Austin Mac + Cheese Festival champion. Industry served its poblano mac and cheese topped with fried green onion to win the hearts of festival-goers.
Biz
Austin’s Saks Off 5th location in the Gateway Shopping Center will be one of the company’s nine stores to close early next year. Once it’s gone, the 50,000-sqft shop will join only seven other properties in town with that much available space to fill. (Austin Business Journal)
Ranked
We’re keeping Austin weird. Austinites are more supportive of small business than any other city in the country, according to a study by Nav. On average, Austinites spend $627.30 at local businesses annually, compared to the national average of $469. Check out these small businesses that readers love.
Cause
Hill Country resident and “Dawson’s Creek” actor James Van Der Beek will auction off personal memorabilia next month to help pay for his ongoing cancer treatment. The 48-year-old actor was diagnosed in 2023, and the sale for his items will be held Friday, Dec. 5-Sunday, Dec. 7. (CultureMap)
Closed
After 20 years in business, Asian restaurant Koriente closed its doors with very little explanation, saying “Koriente is now closed” on its website. The Red River-area spot was known for serving health-forward and balanced meals. (CultureMap)
Asked
Want to give ATXtoday readers something to be thankful for? Share one of your favorite Thanksgiving recipes with us so we can bring some collective ATXtoday community to tables all around the city.
The Word
Contribution: a gift or payment to a common fund or collection. Your contribution to our giving campaign supports more than Editor Figi and ATXtoday — it supports our colleagues in other cities, our account managers, and everyone who helps keep this newsletter coming to your inbox each morning. If you support our hardworking team, donate.
Finance
Investing in exotic and classic vehicles delivers results — a Lamborghini Countach sale just generated a 14% net return for MCQ Markets investors. Diversify for $20 a share.*
Event Spotlight
🎁 The Who-Lidays are here
Take the kids to the Who-Liday Celebration for pictures with the ultimate anti-Santa. | Photo courtesy Domain NORTHSIDE
Mr. Grinch may be a mean one, but he’s coming to Domain NORTHSIDE this Saturday, Nov. 22 for the shopping center’s annual Who-Liday Celebration.
While we wouldn’t touch him with a 39-and-a-half-ft pole, the Grinch and Max the dog will be available for pictures starting at 2 p.m. Plus, seasonal fun like snow globe making, face painting, letters to Santa, and balloon twisters will make your heart grow three sizes.
Finally, folks can welcome Christmas in true Whovian fashion with a tree lighting at 6 p.m.
The Buy
Benefit’s top-rated brow pen that’s on sale for a limited time. We love that it draws on three superfine lines in one stroke, resulting in fuller-looking brows in seconds. Bonus: Get $10 off your order of at least $20 with code HSN2025 by Sunday, Nov. 30.
The fun doesn’t have to end here. After reading the newsletter, head over to our games page. Games refresh with new challenges every day at 6 a.m. from crossword puzzle to Sudoku to themed word search.
Writing yesterday’s fossils story inspired me to visit the Texas Science & Natural History Museum over the weekend. I probably should have read the website before I made the trek, because the Paleontology gallery is under construction until January 2026. It was still cool to see the Mosasaur, though.
