Community volunteerism at its best

Local woman shares journey in making Seguin her own

Story by Cindy Aguirre-Herrera Photos by Lizz Daniels

The core of any community is its volunteers. It’s the people who devote oneself unselfishly to a task – expending their time and energy to something that in the end makes life better, if not easier for you and me.

Wrangling up examples here in Seguin is quite easy but often, there’s that one individual who you just need to know a little more about. It’s that person who over the years, you’ve become more and more curious about. This January, that road to curiosity has led us right to Regina Lee. Most known for her role as the executive director of Seguin’s food pantry, The Christian Cupboard, there appears to be more to learn about this woman, who from the day she arrived in this community in the 1980s has given back more time than any of us could ever imagine.

It was 1988 when Lee made her move from Los Angeles, California to the Lone Star State. However, some may say that her life has always been destined to play out here in Seguin.

Not only was her mother from Seguin but years after living in Los Angeles, Lee says she remembers Seguin ending up being the topic of discussion during one of those casual “first meeting” conversations with Kenneth, the man who would later become her husband. Lee says Kenneth talked about his dream of moving to Texas. When she asked where, Kenneth stated that it was a small town, and that Lee probably has never heard of it. After replying, try me, Lee was surprised to learn that she knew exactly the town he was talking about.

Born in San Antonio, Lee says Kenneth often traveled during the weekend through Seguin on his way to the Peach Creek Community near Gonzales.

“I was like what, Seguin?” Now, although she had visited a few times as a child, she didn’t really have too much to say about her mother’s hometown – a town that was incredibly different than L.A. But nonetheless, a town that she loves today.

Although her mother didn’t think she would take that leap of faith and move to Seguin, Lee quickly found herself in this community. Raising four children, Lee says much of the earlier days was spent at St. James Catholic Church. Lee says in the 1980s, assimilating in the local church was a bit difficult especially when her family was often the only family of color during those Sunday morning masses.

Nonetheless, Lee threw herself into the church volunteering basically in every role there was to volunteer in.

Her dedication and foundation of faith, however, did not allow her to go unnoticed. In fact, Lee was one of the first recipients of the Lumen Gentium Award. The prestigious and coveted award was presented to Lee by Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller of the San Antonio Archdiocese.

The Lumen Gentium Award is “bestowed upon Catholic laypeople from each parish who have demonstrated participation in the Catholic Church’s mission to bring Christ’s light to all.” According to the Archdiocese, “the individuals are practicing Catholics who manifest an understanding of the teachings of the church and have been graced with a life formed in the Catholic spiritual tradition. These individuals have used their talents to deepen the life of the church in the parish or have served in an extraordinary way the ministry of the parish.”

Perhaps that spirit of Christ is what led her to her current role as the executive director of the Christian Cupboard. As mentioned earlier, Lee’s role in the community will forever tie her to the non-profit cupboard located on North Camp Street, her home away from home for the last several years.

When she looks back at how it all began, Lee says it was just her looking for something to keep occupied with. Extending that initial invitation to volunteer at the food pantry was local resident Estelle Hill. Lee says Estelle, who was always in attendance at daily mass, easily asked Lee, “what are you doing Thursday?”

“They needed help and then I met someone there who was my age and so we clicked very well,” said Lee. ”She was a stay-at-home mom and just the social part of it – being home all the time and I needed something else, an outreach in the community.”

Lee adds “if someone had not invited me, I doubt I would have ever been involved with the Cupboard.”

Lee says it wasn’t very long after accepting that invitation to volunteer, that she found herself in a leadership position.

“The board is a three-year rotation. Three years, now mind you. Keep that three-year rotation in mind and so on that Thursday, a lady said you need to put yourself down for the board and I said okay, – whatever that meant. I didn’t even know what it meant. So, we put our names down and I ended up being vice-president,” said Lee. “What I didn’t know at the time was once you are vice-president; you step into the role of president three years later. But before the end of the three years, the president was unable to complete her assigned duties and so I have been the president for year. I tell you; it’s been since maybe 2002.”

Now, years later, Lee has worked to grow the pantry and has even expanded the number of days that it is available to the public. Most importantly, she has managed to maintain the food pantry’s continued operation -- no matter the challenges. Whether it was during a global pandemic or area flooding, Lee says her group of solid volunteers has just continued to push forward.

“One thing I’ve seen is regardless of what you’ve done in life, you still eat. Regardless how far you’ve come today, you can go down tomorrow because one instance can change your ability to have food – have a fire, have a flood, get sick. What really made me change my mind and made me look at people different is that I don’t care how much money you’ve got in the bank, if the stores are closed and your refrigerator isn’t working and every computer is down, what are you going to do? It is just as basic as that,” said Lee. “I think during the ’98 flood and even the 2002 flood, there were people who worked at the cupboard who had to use the facilities at the cupboard because HEB shelves were empty. They needed food. There was no other place to get it. They were trying to deal with moving things out of their house -- just basic, basic stuff but they still needed to eat.”

Honored to have served over the years, Lee says she is grateful for the opportunity and will continue to oversee the non-profit organization until it’s time to do something else. She understands the need for change and will always be appreciative to have been given the baton so many years ago.

Lee says when it comes to this role, there’s really no other one like it. She says after all, food is what connects us all.

“Without the test there is no testimony and that makes a lot of difference,” said Lee. “I’ve had a couple of people that I knew personally that they were so embarrassed about going but it’s not about the embarrassment. It humbles you. A TLU graduate, college educated and had a good job but got to the point where he needed us. It was devasting for him, but it humbles you. It makes you realize all the years you said ‘well, they could have, or they should have or why did they not do this and it humbles you and God will slap you and humble you all the time,” said Lee.

While Lee wrapped up the month of December with this year’s Christian Cupboard food drive, her innate desire to volunteer presses forward this January as a member of the MLK Day Planning Committee. The group which works to observe the life and legacy of the slain civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is set to continue the observances found in this community’s long history. Although the traditional four-day observance will be modified this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Lee says she is grateful to be a part of this wonderful committee.

“So, I was on that committee and then Mr. Earl Mosely, was president at the time. He really did a wonderful job and they have been together forever like 35 years or something -- dedication, dedication, dedication! They had laid a great foundation. I was asked (to serve) and with everything in prayer with me,” said Lee. “We are going slow and easy this year, so we are going to put ourselves back out there. We are going to the school Friday night for the choir festival. Saturday, MLK is not going to do anything per se, and I’m saying that to lead into the Baptist Ministers Union who has always done something, and they used

to do something on that Monday night but this year, they are going to do something on that Saturday at New St. James Baptist Church and because they are going to do something that Saturday, we are not going to do anything (on Saturday). That Sunday, we are not going to go to TLU. But what we are going to do is we are going to do the March that Monday and we are going to do as we did in 2019. We are going start at TLU.”

While she promised to rollout even more details about the January event, most can see Lee’s dedication to the MLK Day Planning Committee as she already had most of the specifics during her interview with Seguin Today in early December. This just better illustrates Lee’s commitment and dedication to anything she signs up for.

In between being there for her community, the rest of Lee’s time is still spent caring for others. Lee says she has spent years working as a caregiver and sitting with those who need her the most. But perhaps, what might be even more interesting is the Regina Lee, before coming to Texas.

Lee couldn’t help but chuckle at a few of those variety side jobs – jobs that she was always proud of.

“To me, the most interesting thing about me is I worked in the garment industry in California. Someone offered me this and that was that I used to foot model and what I did was I went to one of the manufacturers and I just tried on the shoe and made sure that it fit. At the time, I was a perfect size 7.5 and unbeknownst to people, shoe models aren’t a size 4. The shoe is 7.5 because that’s more of an in between and the most normal size shoe is a 9. But I used to foot model. That was something that I did on the side you know during my lunch hour. In fact, I was even a fit model for clothes,” said Lee.

It’s perhaps Lee’s solid faith that has helped her put others first. She says when God is priority, everything else just falls into place.

“It’s funny I say all the time, it’s funny when you look for something to pray or a specific direction and it comes to fruition, and you go ‘wow! And I think gosh, people should be more faithful. We are faithful and then we are surprised that he’s faithful to us. Isn’t that something?” said Lee.

“We all have free will. We all don’t always use it the way we should, but I see that we pray for things, and we are so surprised that it happens. If I’m not supposed to have it, then I sit back. Of course, I’ve been praying for the Lotto, and I don’t have that. I guess, it’s not my time,” laughs Lee.

Sincerely doing it for others is what Lee believes has helped her get the satisfaction in all that she does.

“I think when you’ve invested your time, talent and treasure and I never really found my true talent but what I am, I try to be very honest about things and sometimes, it hurts, and you just have to be honest. Don’t promise a demand. Don’t do it for looks because you are not going to get anything,” said Lee. “I’m big at not thanking people for things because that’s what you are supposed to do. You are blocking my blessing when you start to put that out in the community. I’m not looking for glory or a parade or anything else. I do it because I want to do it. I can do it. Nobody is looking for anything. That’s me.”

Nonetheless, Lee is forever grateful to have made it to Texas. She says it’s one journey that has been totally worth it.

“I’m blessed, totally blessed. It’s called life. It’s versatile. It wasn’t just one sided. I didn’t work at one place for 50 years and I have an attention span of a gnat, so it worked perfectly for me,” said Lee. “It doesn’t work for everybody. People like to know when their next check is coming, and they want to be ready. I take it as it comes because nothing is promised.” •