May 17, 2023 849 PM
MARFA — A fundraising event hosted by Bordo for the Tejada family this week was a huge success, drawing an enthusiastic crowd and raking in $3,500 for the beloved local burrito royalty.
At the same time, charitable bike race Marfa100k sold 25 limited-edition Marfa Burrito jerseys at $75 a pop, with proceeds going directly to the Tejadas. The jerseys sold out, bringing in a total of $1,875.
At Bordo, Bad Larry’s Burger Club collaborated with the local Italian eatery to feed the community Monday evening, where large baskets collected cash to benefit the Tejadas and a Venmo code made it easy to donate virtually as well. Local band Puño — consisting of John Lujan, Ryan Pinsky and Bordo’s own Richard Covarrubias — provided entertainment, as did Sweetheart of the Radio Jacqueline Delolmo.
Bordo’s Michael Serva explained that the fundraiser came out of his deep love for the Tejada family, who he has known for years. When both Marfa Burrito owner Ramona Tejada and her son Jess suddenly experienced health scares back-to-back, Serva knew the community would come together to support the family that feeds Marfa.
“I was so excited, because I knew that the town was really going to turn out for this,” said Serva. That excitement was reinforced by the feedback he was getting leading up to the event: “People started scaring me in the best way, going, ‘Just so you know, it’s gonna be crazy, the whole town’s gonna come out.’”
Sure enough, the event was packed — despite Bad Larry’s founder Matt McGinn beefing up the number of burgers he anticipated serving to prepare for the crowd, they had sold out by 7:30, halfway through the event. Serva knew he didn’t have to oversell it — that’s just how much the town loved the Tejadas.
“I was excited to get out of the way and kind of watch the event unfold because I knew how much it wasn’t something that needed to be communicated to anybody,” he said. “I just knew everybody was going to feel it in terms of their gratitude towards the Tejada family and what they do.”
The event was truly a communal effort, he said, between the musical performers offering their art, Bad Larry’s offering up food, and other community members offering their time and resources to make it happen. Fatima Anaza showed up to help with food, and Andrew Stevens donated their gear, including an amplifier, and their time, said Serva.
Bordo is still accepting donations at its Venmo, @bordo-deli. Public transactions show donations have continued to flow in the days since the fundraiser.
“The feedback I got from a lot of people was to just be able to stack up a bunch of cash and give it directly to somebody who needs it was really pure, with no middleman,” said Serva.
Serva hopes the fundraiser for the Tejadas is just the first of many community events the eatery will host. He is currently in talks with the Big Bend Conservation Alliance about a potential event, and hopes to work with the Blackwell School as well. He knows the community will turn out again.
“Those events are really hard and tiring, and it’s a lot of work, and we all just left going, ‘We have to do this again.’”
