Shoppers will soon be able to enjoy a specialty soda and browse selected toy items at The Lemon Drop, a new toy boutique slated to open in Friendswood in early November, co-owner Jennifer Sapaugh said.

The backstory: Owned by Kyle and Jennifer Sapaugh, the couple grew up in Friendswood, got married and built their family of nine kids in Friendswood.

One more thing: The Lemon Drop will host free pictures with Santa on Nov. 29 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., according to Sapaguh.

• 111 S. Friendswood Drive, Friendswood

For those looking to help out in the Pearland, Friendswood and Manvel communities, here are several local nonprofit groups that offer volunteer opportunities and accept donations.

Forgotten Angels Foundation: The nonprofit offers a day program dedicated to transforming the lives of Pearland people living with intellectual, developmental and physical disabilities.

• Sample activities: Helping with special events, garden work, classes and weekly activities 
• Donations accepted: Financial gifts, empty aluminum cans, bottled water, coins, wipes and canned goods
• 3301 Industrial Drive, Bldg. 3, Pearland

Keep Pearland Beautiful: The nonprofit organization provides volunteer activities that focus on litter prevention and education, community beautification and recycling. 

• Sample activities: Helping with garden and grounds maintenance, recycling center processing and education, school presentations, community clean-ups
• Donations accepted: Monetary and stock donations, clean-up supplies such as bags, litter grabbers, gloves, and safety vests, lawn and garden tools, recycling center supplies 
• 5800 Magnolia Parkway, Pearland

Harris County commissioners voted unanimously Oct. 30 to push back the proposed Dec. 11 public hearing for the Harris Health and the Ben Taub Hospital expansion in Houston’s Texas Medical Center. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo was absent.

The bottom line: Several amendments, internal deadlines and meetings are now being coordinated by county and city of Houston stakeholders as part of a potential expansion plan that will include community input and a formal presentation in January. Commissioners set the new date for the public hearing in March.

The context: Harris Health officials are in the process of a major expansion of Ben Taub Hospital, which would incorporate 8.9 acres of Hermann Park. Esmaeil Porsa, Harris Health president and CEO, said at the Oct. 30 meeting that the expansion must occur at this location for several reasons that would support more than 1 million uninsured individuals.

“It would allow this facility to be part of Ben Taub and won’t need additional licensing,” Porsa said.

Millions of Texans may see delays in their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits beginning Nov. 1, as the federal government shutdown reaches the one-month mark.

The latest: The federal food assistance program is set to run out of funding in November, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Two federal judges ruled Oct. 31 that the Trump Administration must use federal contingency funds, which are stockpiled for emergency expenses, to fund SNAP in November, although the next steps surrounding SNAP benefits were unclear as of press time.

The local impact: Over 3.5 million Texans receive SNAP benefits each month, according to Feeding Texas, the statewide network of food banks.

“People are at risk of going hungry if the government doesn't reopen and SNAP benefits are delayed. … These are already vulnerable Texans,” Feeding Texas CEO Celia Cole said in an Oct. 27 interview.

Food banks across the state Texas food banks previously expanded their operations to meet increased demand as thousands of federal workers go without paychecks during the shutdown.