CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Editor's Note - This story has been corrected to clarify that El Obero likely would have failed a city inspection, but the city never gave it any type of written warning.
The sound of hammers hitting nails isn’t a sound one might typically hear on Labor Day.
And yet, outside a Bee County corner store at Monroe and Stampler, a handful of folks could be seen laboring away -- all to help save a community staple.
El Obrero, and its owner Maria Ochoa Garza, have been part of the fabric of Beeville’s West Side for decades, helping poor migrant farm workers feed their families when times were lean.
"This store would give them credit to take food for the road and wait until they got paid, and then (let them) come back and pay their bill," said volunteer Mike Rodriguez.
A tradition Garza continues to this day.
"Small towns -- there is no politics,” Rodriguez said. “It’s about helping one another and making the city better. That is what we try to do as a group."
But Garza’s 100-year-old store is showing its age, and she’s in jeopardy of losing her family business because she says the aging awning and water heater likely would not pass the next city inspection.
"The lady doesn't have the funds (to make the repairs),” said Bee County Commissioner Kristofer Linney. “You see inside the store? She's barely making it, right?"
When Linney heard about Garza’s situation, he said he knew he had to step up, so he called on people he knew would be willing to help.
"I reached out to some volunteers that I usually can count on,” he said. “ ‘Let’s go look and see how big of a project is this.’”
Not only did people donate their time and skills, but Alamo Hardware donated most of the materials needed to complete the repairs.
And another community member upgraded her cooling system – which had been a single box fan – to a brand-new air conditioning unit.
The beloved 86-year-old store owner has worked behind the counter of her family's store most of her life, so when the city said she would have to pass inspection, she didn’t know what to do.
"The walls are worn out already and it needs to be fixed up, and I don't have no insurance and it’s kind of hard," she said.
To add salt to that wound, not long ago, Garza’s store also was robbed.
"They broke the back door,” she said. “Left me with not even a loaf of bread."
Despite her recent hardships, even on Labor Day, the sign outside the store says “Open,” as the volunteer obreros – workers -- hammered away out front.
A labor of love that won't soon be forgotten.
"I appreciate it very much,” she said. “I don't know what to say. They are really good people, and I thank them for everything they've done for us.”