Last month,15 ABC shared a project A&M students are developing to improve the city of Calvert. Now, they're taking it to the next level by focusing on bringing a grocery store to Calvert.
- Calvert has not had a local grocery store for more than a decade.
- The nearest grocery store is in Hearne.
- Calvert currently only has one local convenience store available for shopping, but the city’s mayor is determined to find a way to provide more choices for neighbors.
- A&M students are doing this through a program at school that allows them to think outside of the box on ways to bring a grocery store to the city.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
15 ABC asked Marcus Glass what he hopes Calvert residents think seeing Texas A&M University students working to get them a grocery store.
"What I would hope that the people of Calvert would think is that there are people, you know, that may not be in the Calvert community, but they still care about them and want to make a positive impact," said Glass.
It's been more than a decade since the city of Calvert had a local grocery store in town, but with the help of A&M students, city officials are working to change that.
"I think it will have a very positive impact, you know, I know people want it," Calvert Mayor Layla Wright said.
Calvert currently only has one local convenience store available for shopping, but the city’s mayor is determined to find a way to provide more choices for neighbors.
"They also don't really have fresh produce or anything in terms of you know fruits or vegetables or fresh meats or things like that so that's really what we're going after is the ability to have fresh meat, fresh proteins, fruits and vegetables available for people," Wright said.
And the city isn't acting alone — A&M students are driving these innovative ideas to improve living for Calvert residents.
They’re doing this through a program at school that allows them to think outside of the box on ways to bring a grocery store to the city.
"I've never lived in a city where I was not within a couple of miles of a grocery store. It was never an inconvenience. Never anything that I had even thought of or considered that other people had an issue with and so, honestly, it kind of opened my eyes whenever we realized that's what the city of Calvert was going through on a daily basis of needing groceries," TAMU student, Breilly Westbrooke said.
This is the first step in a long process, but the city mayor feels hopeful about what lies ahead.
"I'm really hoping that they're coming to us with some flexible solutions, maybe on a smaller scale that would be good for us to be able to build on, but still begin to impact and serve the community immediately," Wright said.
