Author: Michael Hetrick

Increase in need continues for April as ETFB responds to COVID-19 affected families


In April, we continued our emergency response to COVID-19. We provided over 2.4 million meals (which is 42% increase from April 2019!) to East Texas children, families and seniors in need.

With support from the Texas Army National Guard, we continued our emergency drive-thru distributions, Senior Box Home Delivery program and provided even more support to our partner agencies.

Watch the video above to see the impact the food assistance has on our East Texas neighbors.

If you are able, here are the most essential ways you can support our work and help provide one less worry for our neighbors:

  1. Donate. Thanks to our wholesale buying power, every dollar you donate provides even more meals for our hungry neighbors. Donate here.
  2. Crowdfund. Any person, business, organization or group can host a virtual food drive to benefit the East Texas Food Bank! We can customize a crowdfunding page with your information and goal. Click here to learn more.
  3. Volunteer. Our Volunteer Center is currently by appointment only and we’ve implemented additional sanitation and social distancing measures. The Texas Governor’s office has deemed food banks as a critical infrastructure industry and we’re allowed to stay open. Learn more here.
  4. Amplify. We need your voice to help share our message. You can stay updated on our work and share our message to your network across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Your support means that access to a nutritious meal is one less worry for our neighbors in need.

Volunteers are essential to helping during COVID-19, year-round

It’s Volunteer Appreciation Week! Year-round, our volunteers demonstrate their commitment to fighting hunger and feeding hope by working to get food into the hands of our the families we serve.
The COVID-19 pandemic has reminded us how influential volunteers are to the East Texas Food Bank and we are so appreciative of their continued support.
Just last year, over 15,000 volunteer shifts logged more than 44,000, helping us provide 21.3 million meals.
Volunteers can help in a variety of ways and are always welcome during our volunteer hours. Normal volunteer opportunities include: repacking rice, beans and pastas, helping pack boxes for our BackPack and Senior Box programs, inspecting and sorting food items and helping with administrative duties in the office.
Volunteers have also been critical in our COVID-19 emergency response. The community has stepped up to help us back and distribute emergency food boxes through drive-thru events and delivering them to homebound seniors.
The East Texas Food Bank’s best work is only possible because of the dedication of thousands of people who together volunteer thousands of hours of their time.
To learn more about volunteering with us, please click here.

Weekly drive-thru distributions continue

In response to COVID-19, the East Texas Food Bank is holding a weekly drive-thru emergency food box distribution. We will be distributing emergency food boxes and fresh items (such as milk, produce and meat when available). The distributions will be at the East Texas State Fairgrounds every Friday from 10 am-12pm (while supplies last through the end of May.

The boxes are an added layer on top of the 21.3 million meals ETFB distributes every year. The boxes contain shelf-stable groceries such as dried beans, rice, pasta and canned meat, fruits and vegetables. Each box will provide items for 16 meals.

To receive a free box, community members just need to provide their name and address. There are no eligibility requirements or identification needed. It’s a drive-thru distribution, so please stay in your car and follow the traffic control guidance from the Tyler PD.

Multiple households can ride together. Each adult in the car will need to provide their name and address for the separate households. To pick up a box for someone who isn’t present, they will need to provide a written note with their household name, address, name of the person picking up the food for them and their signature.

Any family seeking food assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic can click “Find Food” at the top of this page to find the closest resources near them.

If you want to financially support our work, please give at EastTexasFoodBank.org/DonateNow.

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En respuesta a COVID-19, el East Texas Food Bank está haciendo una distribución semanal de cajas de alimentos de emergencia. La ETFB distribuirá cajas de alimentos de emergencia y artículos frescos (como leche, productos y carne, cuando estén disponibles). Las distribuciones serán en el recinto ferial del East Texas todos los viernes de 10 am-12pm (mientras duren los suministros).

Las cajas son una capa añadida enlaciendo los 21,3 millones de comidas que ETFB distribuye cada año. Las cajas contienen alimentos estables en estanterías, como frijoles secos, arroz, pasta y carne enlatada, frutas y verduras. Cada caja incluye artículos para 16 comidas.

Para recibir una caja gratuita, los miembros de la comunidad solo necesitan proporcionar su nombre y dirección. No se necesitan requisitos de elegibilidad ni identificación. Es una distribución, así que por favor quédese en su auto y siga las instrucciones de control de tráfico de la policía de Tyler.

Varios hogares pueden viajar juntos. Cada adulto en el coche tendrá que proporcionar su nombre y dirección para los hogares separados. Para recoger una caja para alguien que no está presente, tendrá que presentar una nota escrita con su nombre de familia, dirección, nombre de la persona que recoge la comida para ellos y su firma.

Cualquier familia que busque ayuda alimentaria durante la pandemia COVID-19 puede visitar  www.EastTexasFoodBank.org y hacer clic en “encontrar alimentos” para obtener información sobre los recursos alimentarios más cercanos.

Texas National Guard arrives at the East Texas Food Bank


Year-round, when our neighbors are struggling, the East Texas Food Bank is here to help.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, we were already facing a hunger crisis in our community, with more than 241,000 East Texans at risk of hunger. We will continue our mission of fighting hunger and feeding hope during this pandemic and beyond.

We are committed to continuing our vital core work of food distribution during this crisis, as well as providing emergency food boxes to our neighbors in need through drive-thru distributions at schools and other strategic locations; delivering boxes directly to quarantined and homebound seniors; and supplying partner food pantries with boxes throughout East Texas.

That is why we are thankful to have the support of the Texas Army National Guard, who are the official “boots on the ground” at the East Texas Food Bank. The guardsmen will ensure that we continue to safely meet the need for food assistance in our 26-county coverage area. They will help support our production of emergency food boxes and distribution and transportation tasks as long as needed as we responded to this pandemic.

“We understand the importance of the East Texas Food Bank and its mission, and it’s an honor for us to serve them and the citizens of Texas,” said Captain Steve Philpot, Texas National Guard General Support Unit Commander. “We are all proud to be Texans serving Texas.”

The deployment comes after the Smith County Emergency Operations Center submitted a request for the guardsmen to support our work. Our appreciation goes out to Governor Abbott and local elected officials, who partnered with us to make this request a reality.

To the guardsmen working alongside our team, we welcome you into our food banking family.  We know the sacrifice you are making to help ensure our hungry neighbors are fed and could not be more grateful to your families for sharing you with us during this time of high need.

Providing #OneLessWorry in partnership with St. Paul Children’s Foundation

When our neighbors are struggling, the East Texas Food Bank is here to help. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, we were already facing a hunger crisis in our community, with more than 241,000 East Texans at risk of hunger.

In the last month, we have seen more than a 20% increase in our food distribution and we anticipate that the need will keep rising. We are committed to continuing our vital core work of food distribution during this crisis, as well as also providing emergency food boxes.

We distribute food through a network of more than 200 partner agencies and feeding programs throughout 26 East Texas counties. We recently visited one of our partner pantries St. Paul Children’s Foundation in Tyler.

St Paul’s has recently switched their operations from a Client-Choice Pantry to a drive-thru food box distribution to keep their staff, volunteers and families they serve safe. They have seen a 300% increase in the amount of families they are serving.

Watch the video above for more from St. Paul Children’s Foundation.

To help provide for those facing hunger during this pandemic, please give here.