The white sign along Business 77 on the Harlingen/San Benito line has seen its better days. It leans over a bit with wear that has not worn well.
It reads “VFW Post 2410” with an arrow pointing north to where the lodge sits on Whalen Road. It is there where post Commander Trey Villela walks among boxes of toy donations for distribution throughout Cameron County. The boxes of Legos, Star Wars heroes and Monopoly games are part of the Toys For Tots program.
The U.S. Marine Corps Reserve runs the charitable program that distributes gifts to children in need at Christmas. A VFW post like the one in Harlingen with its military heritage makes it an ideal point to gather and distribute the gifts. Many of the contributions come from toy manufacturers and other private sector companies.
“There are some expensive toys in here,” said Villela, whose wife, Valerie, serves as the local Toys For Tots coordinator. “Lots of kids will be getting some really nice toys.”
Storied History
The VFW post serving Harlingen and San Benito has a storied history that includes a post-World War II visit from Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz. The native Texan was the commander-in-chief for the U.S. Pacific Fleet during the war.
The 70-year-old lodge building is frayed like the sign along the highway pointing to its location. In recent years, the veterans belonging to the lodge worried if the facility could continue to stand after years of flooding damage. Then one of the Rio Grande Valley’s larger commercial builders and a U.S. congressman stepped in to help with resources that went beyond what Villela and his fellow veterans could have imagined.
The need to do something became urgent after lodge pipes burst and caused extensive water damage after the big freeze of February 2021. Villela set up a GoFundMe account in hopes that the veterans could “bandage everything up.”
“Everything flooded in here and we already had flooding issues to deal with from past years,” Villela said.
Rene Capistran, the chief executive officer of Noble Texas Builders, toured Post 2410 after seeing a local television story about the damaged lodge. Capistran is a Navy vet and wanted to take a look at the Harlingen/San Benito VFW post. He walked the grounds with Villela and came to a painful conclusion.
“Rene told us that the building was not salvageable,” Villela said. “We have veterans that have been coming here for over 20 years. At the end of the day, we need to have something here for them.”
Looking For Answers
Capistran spoke with the vets in general terms of doing fundraisers with the support of Noble Builders after his walk around the lodge.
U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez would soon thereafter make a visit to the post. Gonzalez at the time represented a neighboring congressional district and, in that capacity, had helped a VFW in Falfurrias gain funding to make facility improvements.
Gonzalez pledged to do the same for Post 2410. He would later accelerate those efforts when he was elected to a district that includes Cameron County. Gonzalez’s staff would assist Villela and his post with gathering the information and documentation needed to apply for a federal grant.
In the meantime, Capistran invited the Post 2410 vets to attend Noble’s annual charity fishing tournament. It would be there that many of Noble’s business partners and contractors would hear of the Post 2410 story.
Donations Offered
“Rene began telling our story at the fishing tournament,” Villela said. “People began asking us, ‘What do you guys need?’”
Companies began offering in-kind donations to the veterans for improvements of their lodge. Central Ready Mix of San Juan offered the concrete. Innovative Block of La Feria said it would contribute building supplies. CT Plumbing of San Antonio pitched in with an offer to provide its services in-kind.
In all, 17 companies would eventually offer services, products and labor for a value totaling $1.5 million. Congressman Gonzalez by this point had secured a $850,000 federal grant for Post 2410. There was now enough funding to build the veterans an entirely new lodge that will be located adjacent to the present structure.
“It’s crazy,” Villela said of how everything came together to benefit the Harlingen/San Benito-area vets. “It has been a long road. We were very fortunate Noble and the congressman came to us and in doing so, brought awareness to everyone they work with.”
Post 2410 is hoping to have its new lodge in place by the end of 2025. For now, there’s the matter of Toys For Tots and getting those gifts out to area children.
The VFW Post 2410 is located at 2006 N. Whalen Road in Harlingen and can be reached at 956-399-4011. For more information regarding Toys For Tots, call 760-201-9277 or email at harlingen.tx@toysfortots.org.