Food insecurity in Texas has doubled, along with the demand at food banks statewide, according to the nonprofit Feeding Texas, committed to combating hunger in the Lone Star State. Over 4 million Texans experienced food insecurity before the coronavirus pandemic hit the U.S., and now, Feeding Texas reports that people are visiting food banks who have never visited a food bank before, as more people are losing their jobs and seeing their salaries cut. In the Brazos Valley area, 1 out of every 5 individuals experience food insecurity, according to Feeding Texas’ parent organization, Feeding America, a network of more than 200 food banks nationwide.
On Dec. 2, KBTX Media will take direct action against hunger in the Brazos Valley when it hosts the Food for Families food drive from 5am to 7pm at the Brazos Center in Bryan. Additional drop sites are located at the Son-Shine Outreach Center from 6am to
7pm; Pridgeon Community Center in Franklin from 6am to 7 pm; Hearne Railroad Depot in Hearne from 6am to 7pm; St. Mary’s, Lady of the Lourdes Catholic Church Hall in Caldwell from 6am to 7 pm, and Mid-South Synergy in Navasota from 6am to 7pm.
Texas A&M student-led food pantry The 12th Can and other community organizations, including The REACH Project, The Bridge Ministries Food Pantry, and The Salvation Army, have stepped in to help distribute food in addition to providing additional community resources.
KBTX is celebrating the 25th anniversary of hosting the Food for Families food drive, says Josh Gorbutt, news director at KBTX. The station sends its team out to five counties in the Brazos Valley each year and collects food and funds for the Brazos Valley Food Bank, he says.
“We have been partners with the food bank for so long because hunger is something that we all understand,” Gorbutt says. KBTX is committed to being a valued community partner in the area and has been for the past 60 years, he says. “It is our job to help make sure the food bank meets the community's needs.”
The Brazos Valley Food Bank has 35 partner organizations that together account for 81% of the food distributed through the food bank, according to the website. The food bank delivers 6.8 million pounds of food within the Brazos Valley community each year, according to the website.
On campus, The 12th Can’s goal is to eliminate hunger at Texas A&M University and raise awareness of food insecure students on college campuses, says Kelly Villarreal, executive director. The student-run organization usually serves over 100 families in the area each month, but since the pandemic started, it has been supplying food to over 160 families, said Villarreal, a senior business honors major.
“This is something that happens on college campuses, and there are resources available to help,” Villarreal says.
The REACH Project
has been focused on breaking the societal stigma attached to university service workers, according to its website. It was only when the pandemic hit and affected campus staff that it set up a food supply service, helping supply food to the families of Texas A&M maintenance, food service, and custodial workers under financial strain due to unemployment, says Chase Brown, a senior statistics major who serves as CEO of The REACH Project.
“We distributed around 25,000 meals over the summer,” Brown says.
As the only Brazos Valley food pantry with evening hours, The Bridge Ministries Food Pantry has weekly distributions, said Tatiana Rivera, operations manager and volunteer coordinator at The Bridge Ministries. The food pantry saw a 60% increase in clients at the start of the pandemic and also received a huge rush of donations, Rivera says. Donations have since let up while the increase in demand has not, she says, and monetary donations are what help the pantry
most, as they can go a long way.
“Just $1 can feed a family of five three meals a day,” Rivera says.
The Salvation Army of Brazos County has been helping families throughout the pandemic, providing families with a month's worth of groceries on a need basis, said Lt. Timothy Israel, corps officer and executive director of The Salvation Army of Brazos County. Israel said they have had to-go meal giveaways, handing families hot meals from local restaurants during the pandemic.
“It is just a nice reprieve from the daily routines the families were having to go through,” Israel says.
Organizing the Food for Families food drive takes hundreds of hours but knowing that their friends and neighbors know where their next meal is coming from motivates KBTX to keep putting on the event, Gorbutt says.
“The 60 people who work at KBTX are deeply invested in the community,” he says.
The number of people in the United States that could become food insecure due to the coronavirus pandemic is 17 million, approximately the same population as The Netherlands, according to Feeding America.
For more information, visit kbtx.com/food-for-families.
