Operational adjustments

The COVID-19 pandemic forced Tucumcari restaurateur Todd Duplantis to make adjustments to the fourth annual Operation Thank You for the Christmas holiday.

Instead of taking cookies, brownies and thank-you cards to soldiers at a New Mexico air force base, this year he gave them to first responders in the region.

Duplantis, who owns Cornerstone First Edition, Kix on 66 and Vaquero Asador restaurants in Tucumcari, said in an interview Wednesday at Kix that he usually distributes his bags of six mini-cookies and three mini-brownies to troops at Cannon Air Force Base.

He said the health department won't let him and his wife Jackie deliver the treats to the base or Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque because of the pandemic.

"I can't sneak it on. They said whoever accepts it gets an Article 15," he said, referring to a non-judicial punishment handed out by an offending soldier's commanding officer. "They're apologetic about; they're very sorry about it."

Instead, Duplantis said he'd distribute the treats Christmas Eve to first responders in the region. That includes law enforcement, firefighters, emergency medical technicians and emergency room medics.

"We're going to start with the sheriff's department, work our way through the county, then head to Clovis and Portales until we're out of cookies," he said.

"And we've got a lot of cookies."

Operation Thank You typically raises enough money or receive enough corporate food donations to distribute more than 2,000 care packages. Because the pandemic greatly reduced foot traffic at Duplantis' restaurants, it's reduced the total this year to about 1,200. But that number is far better than what he was anticipating.

"This year, I was expecting only about 500," he said. "But in the last week, we've had people buying 100 packages at time."

Duplantis said he receives donations not only locally for Operation Thank You, but from as far away as New York, Tennessee, Kentucky and even overseas.

Residents and employees also have helped with assembling the bags the day before Christmas Eve.

The genesis for Operation Thank You began when Duplantis, who served in the Marines and Air Force, managed a Perkins Restaurant & Bakery in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and began baking mini-cookies and other treats for soldiers at nearby military bases during the Christmas season.

"I'm a veteran. There were times I was stateside and I couldn't come home because the base has to be open. People tend to forget who's still there," he said. "I think it's important that people see that we appreciate what they're doing."

Duplantis said that snowballed to where the entire Perkins chain participated in similar effort.

When Duplantis bought Cornerstone several years ago, he continued that tradition. He says he makes it a point that Operation Thank You isn't a one-man show.

"We like to let everyone know when we deliver these that they come from Tucumcari and that this is a community effort," he said. "It's a lot more special to know a community is behind you."

Duplantis anticipates resuming his Christmas Eve deliveries to Cannon or the Veterans Administration clinic in Amarillo when the pandemic ends. But he didn't dismiss the possibility first responders would become an annual part of the tradition, as well.

"Including them in this would be nice," he said. "Some of these people have children but are going to be working on skeleton crews (during the holiday). So this will be a treat for them, as well."