Canyon Lake's Yum Yum Gyros & More is bringing back its Giving Tree for the 2026 holiday season, an initiative that underscores the outsized role small rural businesses play in supporting their communities during tough times. Owner Kimmie Proper started the program last year, helping 17 local families, many with multiple children, by collecting gift requests from Mountain Valley Middle School. When a few children's tags remained as Christmas approached, Proper personally purchased additional gifts to ensure every child received a present. She also ended up with extra gifts, which went to the school for students who might otherwise have been overlooked.
This year, Proper expects greater need. Business has been slower, and winter is historically harder on Canyon Lake-area businesses. "It takes a community, and that's what we are here in Canyon Lake," Proper said. "That's why I live here. People are just tighter here; we help each other out when in need." Her approach reflects a broader philosophy of supporting local, which she applies to both her charitable work and her restaurant's operations. "Supporting local is why I'm constantly thinking about where I'm spending my money," she said. That ethos is central to the Giving Tree, which invites community partners and customers to select a name and contribute gifts.
The restaurant itself, located at 1408 Sattler Road, serves homemade Mediterranean and Greek comfort food, including traditional gyros with in-house tzatziki, hummus in rotating flavors like roasted red pepper and feisty feta, salads, specialty pizzas, falafel, and baklava. Proper's soups, such as chicken pot pie, broccoli cheddar, and taco soup, have a devoted following. "Yes, I know it's an oddity, but I sell out of my hot soups in the dead of summer!" Proper said. "I guess they are that good!" The soups, available on no set schedule, are part of the "& More" in the restaurant's name.
The Giving Tree is one of many efforts that bind Canyon Lake together. As the Building Texas Show notes, rural small businesses are anchors of their communities and can anchor holiday giving, too. For those interested in participating, more information is available at yumyumgyros.com, and stories about the people building Texas can be found at buildingtexasshow.com.
