A family who depended on Jasper’s Community Outreach Services (COS) to overcome barriers during a vulnerable time in their lives returned to the community yesterday to show their support during Jasper’s time of need. 

Miguel Lopez and Carmina Martinez operate the Las Tres Marias food truck, a mobile kitchen serving Hinton and Yellowhead County. For the last two years the business has wowed its patrons with the menu’s authentic flavours, but on Sunday, September 11, it was the couple’s community spirit which was garnering five stars from grateful diners. 

Responding to Jasper’s current power outage and Chetamon wildfire emergency situation, the family set up their food truck near the Jasper Aquatic and Fitness Centre with the offer of a free meal for anyone who turned out. They ended up serving more than 500 thankful Jasperites.

“It was the perfect moment for us to say thank you,” Lopez said.

Lopez and Martinez wanted to show their appreciation because, not that long ago, they were on the receiving end of the community’s goodwill. Martinez came to Jasper with her family when she was 11-years-old. Thanks to the social supports available through programming at COS, she and her siblings were able to secure housing, warm clothing and participate in school field trips.

“We had nothing,” she remembers. “We came in December. But because of COS, we had a great Christmas.”

A decade or so later, Martinez met Lopez in Mexico. The two married and came back to Jasper. But life was still hard. Permanent residency processes were difficult to navigate. Money was tight. As they started a family, they were sharing a one-bedroom apartment with Martinez’s parents and siblings.

“We couldn’t become independent,” Lopez said. “There was a point I just wanted to just go back to Mexico.”

But the staff at COS, particularly outreach worker Maggie McDowell (“our angel,” Lopez said), were tireless in their efforts to assist. 

“They motivated us, they pushed us, they encouraged us to keep going,” Lopez remembered. “I don’t know what our lives would be without them and their programs.”

The family took advantage of Jasper’s network of social services: Santas Anonymous, the United Church’s Thrift Shop and the Jasper Food Bank, for example.

“I’m not ashamed to say we used the food bank,” he said. “These programs help everyday people like us.”

On Sunday, September 11, through Las Tres Marias Food Truck (so named because the couple has three daughters), Lopez and Martinez were helping everyday Jasperites. From 11:40 a.m. to 5:40 p.m. they served more than 500 dishes of their authentic Mexican fare.

“It was an unbelievable display of compassion and love to our community,” local photographer Tim Poaps wrote on social media. “And it was the best Mexican food I have ever had!”

For Lopez and Martinez, it felt good to give back.

“We wanted to bring as much joy as we were given by Jasper,” Lopez said. “It was humbling, flattering and surreal to come full circle like this.”

Bob Covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com