WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — The Mayor of Wichita Falls recently turned online negativity into an opportunity to raise money for charity and unite the city under one thing we can all agree on: tacos.

Wichita Falls Mayor Stephen Santellana announced “Taco Fest” will be held at Bud Daniels Park on Saturday, October 16, 2021 to raise donations for Zavala Hispanic Cultural Initiative.

The idea for this event all started after Mayor Santellana was called a “taco eater” as a shot to his Hispanic heritage on social media.

Santellana took a screenshot of the comment, shared it on social media, and urged his Facebook friends and the Wichita Falls community to react to the post.

Santellana’s post said, “1000 hand raises and I’ll throw a City wide taco party and raise money to give to charity.”

It wasn’t long before the post exceeded the 1000 hand raises and over $1,300 was raised for Zavala.

Santellana said more “Taco Fest” details are forthcoming, so stick with Texoma’s Homepage for the latest.