Gabriel 'Fluffy' Iglesias benefit show collects 'historic' amount of food for San Antonio Food Bank

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Standup comic Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias collected an unprecedented amount of canned goods for the San Antonio Food Bank with a hastily arranged benefit concert held Sunday afternoon, officials with the nonprofit said.

The comedian’s show at Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club pulled in 16,000 pounds of food, Food Bank Chief Philanthropy Officer Michael Guerra told the Current. He said the haul surpassed any other local canned-food drives organized as concerts or benefit shows.

“It was pretty incredible,” Guerra said. “I’ve never seen anything like it. It was a historic amount.”

Guerra added that the canned goods are useful to the Food Bank because staffers can begin distributing them immediately to clients.

Iglesias, who’s beloved in San Antonio, held the benefit as the Trump administration refused to distribute emergency Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) funds to families in need amid the government shutdown.

In Texas alone, 3.5 million people — half of them children — rely on the program.

Iglesias announced the show with a Facebook post last week. Though the comedian didn’t mention the shutdown specifically, the show was held Nov. 2, the day after SNAP benefits were cut off.

“All the food will be donated to the San Antonio Food Bank, who will be disbursing that food to people in need,” Iglesias said. “And, believe me, a lot of people need that food.”

Two federal judges have since ordered the Trump administration to release emergency SNAP funds, but it remains unclear how quickly those on the program will see their benefits resume.

“Today, for the first time in the program’s proud and proven history, SNAP recipients face a lapse in benefits because of a government shutdown,” Celia Cole of Feeding Texas told the Texas Tribune Saturday. “This is a reality no American should accept, and it should trouble us all to our core.”

Iglesias asked fans to bring at least five cans of food to attend Sunday’s show. The first 350 received wristbands good for the 3 p.m. show.

Meanwhile, Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones announced on Friday that the City of San Antonio has raised $1.6 million to cover food aid for approximately 11,000 families. However, 130,000 families are in need of food assistance in San Antonio now that SNAP benefits have been cut.

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Gabriel ‘Fluffy’ Iglesias benefit show collects ‘historic’ amount of food for San Antonio Food Bank

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