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NBA star CJ McCollum is once again teaming up with Trap Kitchen PDX to provide free Christmas trees to local families in need.
The giveaway begins at noon Saturday, Dec. 4, at 3137 NE 82nd Ave., where the soul food cart is parked, and will last until all of the firs are gone.
If last year’s turnout is any indication of how 2021′s response will be, plan to fuel up the car and line up early. The trees were wiped out during the initial Nov. 29, 2020, giveaway, but demand was so strong even after the lot was empty, Trap Kitchen scheduled a second day for free tree distribution the following week.
In addition to support from the Blazers point guard, the Christmas tree giveaway is organized by rapper Cool Nutz and JAM’N 107.5. The firs themselves are provided by B&R Tree Farms in Yamhill.
The Christmas tree event is a follow-up to the vendor’s efforts to feed the community for Thanksgiving. For the past few years, Trap Kitchen has handed out turkeys and other holiday essentials leading up to the big day of feasting.
The cart also gave out free meals to Black Portlanders in June 2020 thanks to the Portland-born, L.A.-based rapper Aminé, who bought out the cart for a day in the wake of the George Floyd killing and subsequent protests.
Trap Kitchen originally opened in Compton, Calif., in 2016, earning a celebrity fan base that includes Snoop Dogg and Kendrick Lamar. Its Portland location launched in 2018 and quickly gained a following thanks to its heaping plates of mac ‘n’ cheese, seafood-topped pasta, and fried chicken sandwiches.
Related: There Is Nothing Else in Portland Like Trap Kitchen—a Famous Soul-Food Cart Straight Outta Compton