Community supports Tigard’s Tamale House after trailer full of ingredients is stolen

TIGARD Ore. (KPTV) - The local community has responded with an overwhelming amount of support for ‘The Tamale House’ after a trailer full of the restaurant’s key ingredients was stolen on Dec 22.

The small, family-owned restaurant is not usually open on Christmas Eve. But after losing a trailer full of key ingredients like masa and corn husks, the restaurant stayed open this year to catch up on orders.

“We normally don’t make tamales today, we just sell,” said Tony Jump, owner of the Tamale House. “But, since we had this problem with materials, now I’m in this mode of I have to cook,”

Jump said the days leading up to Christmas are the busiest of the year. He said the restaurant was able to restock about half of the stolen ingredients, just in time for the Christmas rush.

The local community showed up in numbers to help support Jump and his family. Since the news broke about the stolen trailer, customers have lined up to place orders or donate to an online fundraiser created to help the restaurant.

“Right after I saw it on the news, I called and said I want to order a dozen tamales and here I am,” said Linda Beck, Tamale House customer.

While the community support has been overwhelming, Jump said it feels good to know his community has his back.

“You feel like there’s actually people that care and want to help because we’re always helping people, but we don’t expect anything back for it,” Jump said. That’s the whole point of helping people, right?“

Graylin Holmes has been a regular customer for 10 years. Holmes didn’t hear about the stolen trailer but showed up with a dozen donuts for Jump and his family.

“For some reason this morning at the store, I thought about bringing a dozen donuts for them,” Holmes said. “Merry Christmas, Christmas Eve! I’m glad I’ve done that now knowing that they had a little hardship,”

Tamales are a holiday staple for Mexican households. Jump said it gets the whole family involved in making a meal. Now, despite a stolen trailer, Jump gets to share the tradition — and the food — with the local community.

“The grandma’s and the mom’s, they’ll grab everybody. Come on! Let’s start making tamales! It’s just a tradition,” Jump said. “I’ve been married 30 years and I’ve seen nothing but tamales for 30 years,”