Category: News

East Texas Food Bank partners with DoorDash to distribute meals to seniors



Longview, TX-The East Texas Food Bank is partnering with DoorDash’s Project Dash to power the delivery of meals to Longview residents who are enrolled in the Senior Box Program.

By partnering with Project DASH, Dashers deliver boxes from one of the food banks’ member agencies so seniors with limited transportation options can receive the meals they need. The Longview Dream Center (LDC) is ETFB’s first pilot site for this service. LDC provides boxes to over 300 seniors each month.

“We are so excited to be able to offer this free service to the seniors we serve in Longview,” said Shonna Barlow, executive director of the Longview Dream Center. “Some of our seniors don’t drive or have to rely on others for transportation or are home- bound, so this is a wonderful service from DoorDash that will help us deliver food to our older population who struggles with food insecurity.”

“The East Texas Food Bank Senior Box Program provides boxes of nutritious food each month to low-income seniors, many who live in isolated, rural communities,” said Tim Butler, ETFB Chief Impact Officer. “Approximately 6,600 seniors receive a box monthly at sites throughout our 26 county service area. We are so grateful for Project DASH’s commitment to helping seniors with hunger relief.”

“We are honored to partner with the East Texas Food Bank to broaden food access in Longview,” said Kelly Jones, DoorDash Drive Director of Government and Nonprofit. “Local delivery has been critical in supporting food banks and food pantries provision of food and other essentials while emphasizing convenience and dignity. We’re excited to continue growing this work in a sustainable way for our partners across the country to continue to meet the ongoing need.”

Project Dash will expand to other locations the ETFB serves with Texarkana launching in a few weeks and other markets in the coming months. Since Project DASH was launched in 2018, it has powered over 2 million deliveries of an estimated more than 35 million meals in the U.S. and Canada.

To qualify for senior boxes applicant must be 60 years of age or older. There is also an income and residency requirement. Click here for more information about the Senior Box Program.

East Texas Food Bank breaks ground on new Tyler Resource Center and Fresh Produce Processing Center

  • ETFB CEO Dennis Cullinane shows plans and drawings for the new Tyler Food Pantry and Produce Distribution Center.

Tyler, TX-The East Texas Food Bank held a groundbreaking today on a new Tyler Resource Center and Fresh Produce Processing Center as part of the overall strategic plan aimed at expanding programs, distributing more food and serving more people.

“We are excited today to move forward with our plans to build a new food pantry in Tyler at our distribution center,” said Dennis Cullinane, CEO of the East Texas Food Bank. “The 2,500 square foot Tyler Resource Center will be located in close proximity to low-income neighborhoods, in a census tract where 34% of the population lives below the poverty line. This is the first time in our history to operate a food pantry onsite at our facility to help close the hunger gap.”

The Tyler Resource Center will include a “Healthy Food Pantry” to provide nutritious food through a client-choice distribution model. The center will be open several days a week including some evenings and weekends to increase access to food assistance. The Benefits Assistance Program will help clients apply for SNAP and other social service benefits.

“We currently estimate that ETFB will serve 500 Smith County households each week and provide 756,000 meals annually with our new Tyler Resource Center,” added Cullinane.

Fresh Produce Processing Center

The construction of a 9,000 square foot Fresh Produce Processing Center will allow the ETFB to collect, store, repackage and distribute fresh fruits and vegetables more efficiently in the 26 county region served by the ETFB.

“Our goal is to sustain our fresh produce distribution at 14 million pounds or 50% of ETFB’s total food distribution by 2025,” said Cullinane. “We distribute boxes of produce each month at multiple locations in East Texas through our Mobile Pantries. Fresh fruits and vegetables are an important part of a healthy diet yet many of our clients are unable to buy produce because of the expense.”

The Tyler Resource Center and Fresh Produce Processing Center, along with other infrastructure such as a new road for delivery trucks, represents a $7 million investment. Funding for these initiatives came from several generous grants including from philanthropist Mackenzie Scott and the American Rescue Plan Act. The new facilities are anticipated to be completed in the summer of 2023.

November Media

Here’s a look at some stories about the East Texas Food Bank during the month of November 2021:

Hunger Hero Awards announced for second year

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    Hunger Hero Award Recipient Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler

To recognize the continued outpouring of support from the community during the East Texas Food Bank’s ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic, ETFB honored four recipients with the 2nd annual Hunger Hero Awards.

Hunger Hero Awards were given to Green Acres Baptist Church (Community Partner Organization), Mr. & Mrs. Herb and Melvina Buie (Individual Supporter), John Soules Foods, Inc. (Corporate Partner) and the Louis & Peaches Owen Family Foundation (Foundation Partner).

“We are excited and honored to present this year’s Hunger Hero Awards to recipients who have shown a great amount of support, especially in the past year as we’ve continued to distribute record amounts of food,” said Dennis Cullinane, CEO of the East Texas Food Bank. “They really exemplify the kindness and generosity of our community and the commitment needed in the fight against hunger.”

The awards were given during Feeding America’s Hunger Action Month. The awareness month, held each September, works to inspire community to take action and bring attention to the reality of hunger in East Texas and across the nation.

“One thing that motivates me is that we want to help 26 counties, 200 agencies reach over 30 million pounds of food to the hungry in our East Texas area,” said Herb Buie. “I want to see that happen with the great performance of the East Texas Food Bank.”

Hunger impacts people in every corner of the country, including 239,800 people, 85,450 of which are children, right here in East Texas. This amounts to 1 in 5 East Texans, including 1 in 4 children.

“We feel it is important to give back to the community that has given so much to us,” said John Soules Jr., Co-CEO of John Soules Foods, Inc. “We are honored to be awarded in this way and continue to pledge our support to the East Texas Food Bank for years to come.”

“Hunger continues to be a crisis in East Texas. While the fight against hunger is ongoing- together, we can feed hope for our neighbors in need,” Cullinane said.

USDA will increase SNAP benefits due to Thrifty Food Plan review

The US Department of Agriculture announced on Monday an increase to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits due to a review of the Thifty Food Plan, mandated by a bipartisan farm bill that was passed in 2018. Monthly benefits in Texas will rise approximately 27% starting in October.

“It is a big day, especially for those 42 million Americans who rely on SNAP for supplemental assistance to feed themselves and their families,” said Tom Vilsack, United States Secretary of Agriculture.

The Thrifty Food Plan, a baseline diet used to calculate benefit levels, had not been updated since 1975 and so failed to capture shifts in food costs and consumers’ circumstances. The update is also expected to increase the amount of USDA commodities available to food banks.

“This is long overdue and sorely needed relief for families who are stretching to put enough food on the table;” said Celia Cole, CEO of Feeding Texas. “Everyone knows the cost of living is very different than it was in 1975. These adjustments, which are based on years of scientific research, will have an important impact for the families we serve.”

The increase will amount to an additional 1.5 billion in benefits to SNAP-enrolled families in Texas. That is an average monthly increase of $36 per person, equivalent to $1.20 per day or 40 cents per meal.

“Our food banks have been struggling to meet increased food needs in their communities,” said Cole. “We know SNAP can reach many more people and offer food assistance on a much larger scale than we can. This change will re-balance the program in favor of healthier diets and reduced hunger in Texas.”

For more about the update to SNAP benefits, click here.

The East Texas Food Bank has a Benefits Assistance Program that helps East Texans complete applications for social service benefits, such as SNAP. To learn more about the program and request in-person or virtual assistance, click here.